CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Bought by Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC

Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 56 shares during the quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $2,356,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CME. Meyer Handelman Co. purchased a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at $6,144,000. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 58.4% during the 3rd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 613,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $135,441,000 after acquiring an additional 226,306 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,284,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,823,964,000 after acquiring an additional 142,692 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,028,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $224,432,000 after purchasing an additional 303,169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in CME Group by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,826,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $403,017,000 after purchasing an additional 283,171 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

CME stock opened at $234.68 on Monday. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $249.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.57 billion, a PE ratio of 24.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $234.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $221.43.

CME Group announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a $5.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.37%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.64, for a total value of $1,019,880.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,131,291.92. The trade was a 14.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total transaction of $89,168.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. This trade represents a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,900 shares of company stock worth $1,336,008 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on CME. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Four 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 MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $229.27.

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.