Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Trims Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. reduced its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,536 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,286,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,243,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,952,273,000 after acquiring an additional 326,623 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in CME Group by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,389,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,946,717,000 after purchasing an additional 104,697 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at $1,107,389,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at $871,063,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 31.5% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,416,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $793,382,000 after buying an additional 819,158 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $2,600,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,686,980. This trade represents a 31.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. This represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME Group stock opened at $262.54 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $251.50 and a 200-day moving average of $236.71. The stock has a market cap of $94.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $267.91.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced 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%. On average, analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on CME. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Erste Group Bank raised shares of CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective 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, Raymond James upgraded 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 report on Monday, March 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $241.53.

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.