Fielder Capital Group LLC Buys 1,528 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Fielder Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 162.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,528 shares during the period. Fielder Capital Group LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $573,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its holdings 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 worth $26,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 120.3% in the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on CME shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays upped their price target on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, 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 report on Friday, February 14th. Four 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $236.13.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME opened at $249.85 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $253.53. 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 company has a market cap of $90.04 billion, a PE ratio of 25.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $238.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $228.59.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program 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 buy up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.71%.

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.