Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 10.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 614,628 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 57,439 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned 0.17% of CME Group worth $142,735,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CME. Meyer Handelman Co. bought a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,144,000. Spire Wealth Management grew its position in shares of CME Group by 37.4% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $307,000 after buying an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 326,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,730,000 after buying an additional 52,862 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 41.8% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,028,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $224,432,000 after acquiring an additional 303,169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,284,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,823,964,000 after acquiring an additional 142,692 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total transaction of $997,872.48. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 27,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,774,211.62. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $256.88 on Tuesday. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $257.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.56, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $238.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $229.58.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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 paid a $1.25 dividend. This is a positive change 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 1.95%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CME has been the topic of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $236.13.

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.