Strategic Advocates LLC Grows Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Strategic Advocates LLC boosted its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 20.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 382 shares during the period. Strategic Advocates LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $513,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oak Harvest Investment Services increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 54,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,636,000 after acquiring an additional 637 shares during the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,108,000. Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $202,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at $1,543,000. Finally, First Affirmative Financial Network lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,587,935.64. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Stock Up 1.5 %

CME Group stock opened at $235.92 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.81, a P/E/G ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $234.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $222.08. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $249.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a dividend of $5.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on CME. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Barclays boosted their price objective on CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $229.27.

About CME Group

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.