Stephens Inc. AR Buys 140 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Stephens Inc. AR raised its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,312 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 140 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in CME Group were worth $537,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 570.6% during the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 188.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 120.3% during the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of CME opened at $245.48 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $235.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $225.25. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $253.53. The company has a market cap of $88.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.81, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. Analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders 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 represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the topic of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $234.13.

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.