CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Acquired by Grove Bank & Trust

Grove Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 8.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,636 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 360 shares during the quarter. Grove Bank & Trust’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,077,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meyer Handelman Co. bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter worth $6,144,000. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 58.4% during the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 613,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $135,441,000 after acquiring an additional 226,306 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $1,823,964,000 after acquiring an additional 142,692 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 149.4% in the 2nd quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 23,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,671,000 after acquiring an additional 14,234 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,826,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $403,017,000 after purchasing an additional 283,171 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $232.71 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $83.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.47, a P/E/G ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 0.56. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $233.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $219.93.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.25 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a $5.80 dividend. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 48.37%.

CME Group declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. They set a “hold” rating and a $221.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $235.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America lifted their target price on CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Piper Sandler upped their target price on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Citigroup cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped 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 given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $229.27.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total value of $89,168.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.64, for a total value of $1,019,880.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 27,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,131,291.92. This trade represents a 14.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 7,274 shares of company stock worth $1,648,071. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.