1,156 Shares in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Bought by Proficio Capital Partners LLC

Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,156 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $268,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CME. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 55.9% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 149,786 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $34,785,000 after purchasing an additional 53,717 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc increased its stake in CME Group by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 29,740 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,906,000 after buying an additional 690 shares during the period. Souders Financial Advisors raised its position in CME Group by 35.8% during the 4th quarter. Souders Financial Advisors now owns 8,190 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,902,000 after buying an additional 2,160 shares during the last quarter. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter worth $291,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 236,953 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $55,028,000 after acquiring an additional 1,339 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now owns 21,873 shares in the company, valued at $5,686,980. This trade represents a 31.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction 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 completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Remove Ads

CME Group Price Performance

CME traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $262.22. 1,736,117 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,049,091. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $267.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.49 billion, a PE ratio of 27.12, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. 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 business's 50-day moving average price is $249.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $235.87.

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

CME Group announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase 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 reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on CME shares. Barclays increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Erste Group Bank raised CME Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Raymond James upgraded CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $287.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $238.93.

About CME Group

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.