Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC Takes Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $360,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. boosted its position in CME Group by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. now owns 1,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $410,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 9,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,100,000 after purchasing an additional 831 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its position in CME Group by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 30,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,174,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Finally, Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 5,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,201,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CME has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays boosted their price target on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target 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. Four equities research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $236.13.

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 sale, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CME Group Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $247.99 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market cap of $89.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $237.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $228.44. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $253.53.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. On average, equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business 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 is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 51.71%.

CME Group declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan 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 purchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.