CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Bought by Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC

Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,432 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $565,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL increased its stake in CME Group by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL now owns 7,614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,768,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Miramar Capital LLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Miramar Capital LLC now owns 59,143 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,735,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at $537,000. United Community Bank acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 4,315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,002,000 after buying an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Up 0.2 %

CME opened at $254.57 on Monday. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $258.78. The business has a 50-day moving average of $240.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $230.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.71%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. This represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total value of $997,872.48. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 27,046 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,774,211.62. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,076 shares of company stock valued at $4,271,496 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on CME shares. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $235.50.

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.