Ieq Capital LLC Grows Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Ieq Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 260.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 85,109 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 61,510 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $19,765,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in CME Group during the third quarter valued at $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 570.6% in the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 188.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 120.3% during the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CME. Barclays raised 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 note on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Citigroup lowered CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $236.13.

CME Group Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of CME stock traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $248.59. The stock had a trading volume of 854,124 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,778,710. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.58 billion, a PE ratio of 25.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.83 and a beta of 0.57. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $236.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $227.00. 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 $253.53.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

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

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $2,888,378.64. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

CME Group Company 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.