CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Bought by Principal Securities Inc.

Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 36.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,919 shares during the quarter. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,671,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Everhart Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in CME Group by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,020 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $469,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. TigerOak Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,309,000. Congress Asset Management Co. raised its position in CME Group by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 71,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,665,000 after purchasing an additional 7,444 shares in the last quarter. Empire Life Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Empire Life Investments Inc. now owns 84,337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,586,000 after buying an additional 4,271 shares during the period. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of CME Group by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,665,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $386,826,000 after buying an additional 159,718 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ CME opened at $247.86 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $236.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $226.35. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $253.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $89.32 billion, a PE ratio of 26.06, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. Analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in 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 board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.37%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were 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 directly owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays lifted their price target on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $234.13.

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.