CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Stock Holdings Lessened by Ashton Thomas Securities LLC

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC cut its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 310 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $2,363,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter worth about $871,063,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in CME Group by 70.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $544,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,119 shares during the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC grew its position in CME Group by 69.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,435,823 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $565,671,000 after purchasing an additional 996,498 shares during the last quarter. Egerton Capital UK LLP acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $223,967,000. Finally, Canoe Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 698.0% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 544,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $126,384,000 after buying an additional 476,019 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on CME shares. Oppenheimer raised their target price on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. 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 research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $238.93.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of CME Group 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 21,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,686,980. This trade represents a 31.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CME Group Stock Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ CME opened at $262.94 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $94.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.19, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $267.91. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $247.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $234.65.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. Equities 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.71%.

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