Hartford Financial Management Inc. Sells 136 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Hartford Financial Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 136 shares during the quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $2,001,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CME. Meyer Handelman Co. purchased a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,144,000. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 58.4% in the 3rd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 613,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $135,441,000 after buying an additional 226,306 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,284,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,823,964,000 after acquiring an additional 142,692 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of CME Group by 41.8% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,028,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $224,432,000 after purchasing an additional 303,169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in CME Group by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,826,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $403,017,000 after purchasing an additional 283,171 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CME shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $235.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $229.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total transaction of $89,168.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,587,935.64. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CME Group Trading Up 1.5 %

CME stock opened at $235.92 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $234.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $222.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $249.02.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were given a $5.80 dividend. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 48.37%.

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