Avion Wealth Increases Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Avion Wealth boosted its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 68.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the quarter. Avion Wealth’s holdings in CME Group were worth $45,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CME. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 570.6% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 188.4% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 120.3% in the fourth 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $229.27.

CME Group Trading Down 0.0 %

NASDAQ:CME opened at $241.74 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $235.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $224.62. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $249.02. The company has a market capitalization of $87.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.42, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57. 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 (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.37%.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated 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 reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Company 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.