Mizuho Securities USA LLC Acquires 10,804 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 46.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,154 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,804 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $7,932,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its stake in CME Group by 570.6% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 188.4% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the transaction, the insider now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,686,980. This trade represents a 31.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CME Group Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of CME opened at $263.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a market cap of $94.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.23, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $246.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $234.22. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $267.91.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm 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 is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays upped their target price on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $238.93.

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.