CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Acquired by EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC

EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 47.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,039 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $241,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,321,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 377,301 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $87,621,000 after acquiring an additional 2,554 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its stake in CME Group by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 27,489 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,384,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the period. Natural Investments LLC acquired a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at $227,000. Finally, Markel Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth $697,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CME shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Raymond James raised shares of CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock 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 issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $238.93.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,063,885.88. This trade represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $2,888,378.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,076 shares of company stock valued at $4,271,496 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $258.68 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $263.65. The stock has a market cap of $93.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.75, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $242.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $232.45.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. On average, research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.71%.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.