Corebridge Financial Inc. Sells 4,745 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Corebridge Financial Inc. trimmed its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 97,669 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 4,745 shares during the period. Corebridge Financial Inc.'s holdings in CME Group were worth $22,682,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 1,769 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $411,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. TFC Financial Management Inc. increased its holdings in CME Group by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 592 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $137,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in CME Group by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,362 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $549,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 437 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Affirmative Financial Network lifted its holdings in CME Group by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 2,141 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $497,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Insider Activity

In other news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. This represents a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value 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. The trade was a 31.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays raised their price target on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. 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 research note on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $238.93.

CME Group Price Performance

CME Group stock traded up $0.37 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $262.22. 1,736,117 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,049,091. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $267.91. The company has a market cap of $94.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.12, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $249.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $235.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. Equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. This is an increase from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group's payout ratio is currently 51.71%.

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.