CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Bought by Mizuho Securities USA LLC

Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 46.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,154 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 10,804 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $7,932,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the third quarter worth $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its stake 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 valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its holdings 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 in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised CME Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $238.93.

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Insider Activity

In related news, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 21,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,686,980. This trade represents a 31.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the business'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 transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ CME traded down $0.87 during trading on Thursday, reaching $261.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,892,901 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,935,108. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $267.91. The firm has a market cap of $94.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.08, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The business's fifty day moving average price is $248.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $235.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.