Sanctuary Advisors LLC Acquires 1,098 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 49,620 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,098 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $11,706,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in CME Group by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 422,268 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $98,063,000 after buying an additional 2,736 shares during the period. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. increased its holdings in CME Group by 47.5% in the 4th quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. now owns 20,997 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,876,000 after buying an additional 6,761 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP increased its holdings in CME Group by 74.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP now owns 1,996 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $464,000 after buying an additional 853 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its holdings in CME Group by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 396,944 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $92,182,000 after buying an additional 35,775 shares during the period. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CME traded up $0.56 on Friday, reaching $248.88. 1,769,890 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,808,714. 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 firm has a market cap of $89.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.74, a P/E/G ratio of 6.83 and a beta of 0.57. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $253.53. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $236.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $227.00.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, beating 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, sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share 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 reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $2,888,378.64. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % 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 hyperlink. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CME has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays boosted 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $236.13.

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.