Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC Sells 900 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC cut its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 43.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 900 shares during the quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $254,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its position in CME Group by 188.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new position in CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in CME Group by 66.1% in the second quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 515.2% in the second quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Down 1.1 %

CME Group stock opened at $236.72 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $85.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.89, a PEG ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 0.56. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $249.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $228.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $213.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.25 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 EPS for the current year.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program 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 programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a $5.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.37%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total transaction of $226,960.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,403,279.44. This represents a 8.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Sunday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total value of $163,610.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 13,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,877,504.39. This represents a 5.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,028 shares of company stock valued at $1,811,681 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CME. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Bank of America upped their price objective on CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, September 26th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $221.00 price objective for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $226.20.

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.