Cumberland Partners Ltd Purchases New Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Cumberland Partners Ltd purchased a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 8,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,858,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Planning increased its position in shares of CME Group by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 51,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,309,000 after purchasing an additional 4,354 shares during the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN increased its position in CME Group by 20.0% during the third quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 1,236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $273,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 14.3% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 197,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,594,000 after acquiring an additional 24,643 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 141.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,151 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,019,000 after purchasing an additional 5,359 shares during the period. Finally, Leo Wealth LLC bought a new position in CME Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $260,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on CME shares. Piper Sandler upped their target price on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays increased their target price 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $236.13.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $250.75 on Thursday. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $253.53. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $236.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $226.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.75 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released 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 net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. Equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 51.71%.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan 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 buy up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management 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.