Cullen Investment Group LTD. Has $6.05 Million Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Cullen Investment Group LTD. boosted its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 26,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 430 shares during the period. CME Group accounts for about 0.9% of Cullen Investment Group LTD.’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Cullen Investment Group LTD.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $6,050,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CME. Marcum Wealth LLC raised its position in CME Group by 23.3% in the fourth quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 2,663 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $618,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares during the period. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at $3,831,000. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,756,000 after acquiring an additional 454 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its stake in CME Group by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 4,524 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,051,000 after purchasing an additional 687 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at $219,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ CME opened at $229.45 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a market cap of $82.69 billion, a PE ratio of 24.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $232.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $219.11. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $249.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.25 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a $5.80 dividend. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 48.37%.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share 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 purchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on CME shares. Oppenheimer upped their target price on CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen started coverage on CME Group in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $221.00 price objective for the company. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced 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. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $229.27.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total transaction of $312,062.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,275 shares in the company, valued at $1,652,298. This trade represents a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total transaction of $89,168.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,274 shares of company stock worth $1,648,071 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.