LPL Financial LLC Has $36.64 Million Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 20.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 157,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,790 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $36,639,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 570.6% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its position in CME Group by 188.4% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME stock opened at $262.22 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.49 billion, a PE ratio of 27.12, 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. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $249.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $235.63. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $267.91.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. Analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $1.25 dividend. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. The trade was a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 21,873 shares in the company, valued at $5,686,980. This represents a 31.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Raymond James upgraded CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, February 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $238.93.

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.