Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC Purchases New Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 1,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $360,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meyer Handelman Co. acquired a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth about $6,144,000. Spire Wealth Management increased its position in CME Group by 37.4% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc increased its position in CME Group by 19.3% in the 4th quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 326,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,730,000 after purchasing an additional 52,862 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in CME Group by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,028,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $224,432,000 after purchasing an additional 303,169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in CME Group by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,284,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,823,964,000 after purchasing an additional 142,692 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other 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 value 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 approximately $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Down 1.1 %

CME Group stock opened at $247.99 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $237.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $228.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a market cap of $89.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 51.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their price target on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Four research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $236.13.

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.