Stephens Inc. AR Has $537,000 Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Stephens Inc. AR increased its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,312 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 140 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in CME Group were worth $537,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in CME Group in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its stake in CME Group by 570.6% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 188.4% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 120.3% during the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays upped their price objective on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $234.13.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the sale, the insider now 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $245.48 on Friday. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $235.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $225.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.81, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $253.53.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.71%.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding 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 usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is 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.