Amalgamated Bank Has $16.01 Million Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Amalgamated Bank cut its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 68,933 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,746 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in CME Group were worth $16,008,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FourThought Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC now owns 40,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,358,000 after purchasing an additional 622 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC now owns 10,724 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,490,000 after buying an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co raised its stake in CME Group by 31.4% during the 4th quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 2,052 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $483,000 after buying an additional 490 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $494,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crestwood Advisors Group LLC bought a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth about $26,728,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $250.82 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The business has a 50-day moving average of $237.64 and a 200-day moving average of $228.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.94, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $253.53.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler increased their price target 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 lowered their target price 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. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $236.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of CME Group 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.