Peoples Bank OH Invests $203,000 in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Peoples Bank OH acquired a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Boston Financial Mangement LLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 287,243 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,707,000 after buying an additional 4,880 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in CME Group by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 133,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,907,000 after buying an additional 6,451 shares in the last quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd bought a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,858,000. Ieq Capital LLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 260.6% in the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 85,109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,765,000 after buying an additional 61,510 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 7,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,626,000 after buying an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

CME opened at $248.32 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $89.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.68, a PEG ratio of 6.77 and a beta of 0.57. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $236.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $227.00.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. Analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually 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 will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given 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 2.01%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler increased 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus 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.