Callan Family Office LLC Takes $2.30 Million Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Callan Family Office LLC bought a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 9,884 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,295,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $871,063,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in CME Group by 70.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $544,157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,119 shares during the period. Capital Wealth Planning LLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 69.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,435,823 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $565,671,000 after acquiring an additional 996,498 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP grew its holdings in CME Group by 698.0% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 544,219 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $126,384,000 after acquiring an additional 476,019 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 17.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,514,040 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $554,707,000 after acquiring an additional 380,071 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup downgraded CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays boosted their target price on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $235.50.

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CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME traded up $0.53 on Friday, hitting $254.57. The company had a trading volume of 2,698,449 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,858,343. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $258.78. The business has a 50 day moving average of $240.07 and a 200 day moving average of $230.55. The company has a market cap of $91.74 billion, a PE ratio of 26.33, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,063,885.88. This represents a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,076 shares of company stock worth $4,271,496. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.