L & S Advisors Inc Invests $3.07 Million in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

L & S Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 13,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,067,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its holdings in CME Group by 570.6% during the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 188.4% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. 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, Barclays boosted their price target on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $238.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 21,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,686,980. This represents a 31.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total transaction of $997,872.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 27,046 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,774,211.62. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CME Group Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $262.22 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $94.49 billion, a PE ratio of 27.12, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $267.91. The business has a 50 day moving average of $249.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $235.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

CME Group declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.