UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Buys 3,323 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 15.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,323 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in CME Group were worth $5,727,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in CME Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 570.6% in the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 188.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Down 0.3 %

CME opened at $261.85 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $267.91. The stock has a market cap of $94.36 billion, a PE ratio of 27.08, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a 50 day moving average of $249.06 and a 200-day moving average of $235.32.

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

CME Group declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,686,980. This trade represents a 31.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on CME. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup cut 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 report on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James raised CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $238.93.

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.