Mather Group LLC. Purchases 49 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Mather Group LLC. increased its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $334,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,723,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 11.8% during the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $549,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. First Affirmative Financial Network increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 2,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $497,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $338,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $229.27.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $244.41 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $249.02. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $235.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $223.49. The firm has a market cap of $88.08 billion, a PE ratio of 25.70, a P/E/G ratio of 5.37 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

CME Group announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 48.37%.

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.