CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Purchased by ORG Partners LLC

ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 225.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 925 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $310,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of CME Group by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,723,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 11.8% during the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $338,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $131,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 4,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $943,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $312,062.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,652,298. This trade represents a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total transaction of $226,960.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,589 shares in the company, valued at $2,403,279.44. The trade was a 8.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 7,274 shares of company stock worth $1,648,071. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME opened at $229.20 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $82.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $249.02. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $232.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $218.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.25 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group announced that its board has approved a share repurchase 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 typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on CME. Barclays increased their target price on CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Redburn Atlantic cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $237.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $221.00 price objective on the stock. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $229.53.

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.