Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co Acquires 490 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co boosted its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 31.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,052 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 490 shares during the quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co’s holdings in CME Group were worth $483,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in CME Group by 24.9% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,488 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,432,000 after purchasing an additional 1,295 shares in the last quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $242,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth $1,633,000. Integrated Advisors Network LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 26.6% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 1,317 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its position in CME Group by 87.5% in the third quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 1,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $251,000 after acquiring an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

CME opened at $247.99 on Thursday. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $253.53. The company has a market cap of $89.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $237.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $228.44.

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

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CME has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup downgraded 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 research report on Monday, January 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $236.13.

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.