137 Shares in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Purchased by Financial Life Planners

Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $32,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in CME Group by 70.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $544,157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,119 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 21,465.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 485,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,072,070,000 after purchasing an additional 483,618 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP increased its position in shares of CME Group by 698.0% in the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 544,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,384,000 after purchasing an additional 476,019 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in CME Group by 17.8% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,514,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $554,707,000 after purchasing an additional 380,071 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. bought a new stake in CME Group during the third quarter worth about $79,692,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Redburn Atlantic cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $229.27.

CME Group Trading Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ CME opened at $240.65 on Tuesday. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.72 billion, a PE ratio of 25.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.37 and a beta of 0.57. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $234.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $222.78.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a dividend of $5.80 per share. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.37%.

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.