WCM Investment Management LLC Grows Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 223.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,374 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,458 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $5,180,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Meyer Handelman Co. purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth about $6,144,000. Spire Wealth Management increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 19.3% during the 4th quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 326,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,730,000 after acquiring an additional 52,862 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.8% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 142,692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $135,441,000 after purchasing an additional 226,306 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CME shares. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $229.27.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME opened at $244.83 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.23 billion, a PE ratio of 25.74, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $235.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $224.13. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $249.02.

CME Group declared that its board has approved a stock 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 repurchase 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 business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.