Global Retirement Partners LLC Boosts Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 453.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,425 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 11,001 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $3,118,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,284,745 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,823,964,000 after purchasing an additional 142,692 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,514,040 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $554,707,000 after purchasing an additional 380,071 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 70.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $544,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,119 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,230,100 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $492,072,000 after acquiring an additional 237,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,981,961 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $437,320,000 after acquiring an additional 26,642 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CME has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $236.13.

CME Group Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of CME Group stock traded down $0.18 during trading on Friday, reaching $248.14. 726,822 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,776,610. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $253.53. The firm has a market cap of $89.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.83 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock's fifty day moving average is $236.87 and its 200 day moving average is $227.00.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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.