Moors & Cabot Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,489 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $6,384,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $871,063,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of CME Group by 70.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $544,157,000 after buying an additional 1,003,119 shares in the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 69.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,435,823 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $565,671,000 after buying an additional 996,498 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP increased its position in shares of CME Group by 698.0% in the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 544,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $126,384,000 after buying an additional 476,019 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of CME Group by 266.2% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 529,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $122,850,000 after buying an additional 384,547 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ CME opened at $260.43 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.93, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $263.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $241.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $231.60.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. Equities analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 51.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at $2,063,885.88. This represents a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 17,076 shares of company stock valued at $4,271,496. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James upgraded CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $238.93.

About CME Group

CME Group Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates contract markets for the trading of futures and options on futures contracts worldwide. It offers futures and options products based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, agricultural commodities, energy, and metals, as well as fixed income and foreign currency trading services.