CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Purchased by Ieq Capital LLC

Ieq Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 260.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 85,109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 61,510 shares during the quarter. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $19,765,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 7,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,626,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 453.8% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 13,425 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,118,000 after acquiring an additional 11,001 shares in the last quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in CME Group by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,338,000 after buying an additional 717 shares during the period. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $307,000. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in CME Group by 25.4% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 615,241 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $142,877,000 after buying an additional 124,800 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of CME Group 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 transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CME Group Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $250.75 on Thursday. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $253.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.75 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $236.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $226.85.

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, beating 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 research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CME has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $236.13.

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.