Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Reduces Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC reduced its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,438 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 45 shares during the period. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $334,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in CME Group by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 36,292 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,428,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd grew its position in shares of CME Group by 41.2% in the 4th quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 11,985 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,783,000 after acquiring an additional 3,500 shares in the last quarter. First United Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. First United Bank & Trust now owns 3,505 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $814,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC now owns 780,547 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $181,266,000 after acquiring an additional 35,857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 5,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,343,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on CME shares. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on CME Group in a report on Thursday, September 26th. They set a “hold” rating and a $221.00 target price for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $229.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were 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 approximately $5,587,935.64. This trade represents a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total transaction of $312,062.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,275 shares in the company, valued at $1,652,298. The trade was a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,274 shares of company stock valued at $1,648,071 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME opened at $232.25 on Wednesday. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $249.02. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $233.43 and its 200-day moving average is $220.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.29 and a beta of 0.56.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. CME Group’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.25 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

CME Group declared that its board has initiated a stock 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 reacquire 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 stock is undervalued.

CME Group 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.