Trust Co. of Vermont Boosts Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Trust Co. of Vermont raised its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 12.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,266 shares during the quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in CME Group were worth $13,467,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CME. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 188.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 120.3% in the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 62.2% during the third quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 52.4% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $229.27.

CME Group Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of CME Group stock traded up $0.40 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $232.71. 1,908,705 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,567,319. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $233.15 and a 200-day moving average of $219.51. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $249.02. The company has a market cap of $83.86 billion, a PE ratio of 24.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.25 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a dividend of $5.80 per share. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.37%.

CME Group announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total transaction of $226,960.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,403,279.44. This represents a 8.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total transaction of $89,168.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,587,935.64. This represents a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 7,274 shares of company stock valued at $1,648,071. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Profile

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.