Unified Investment Management Takes $503,000 Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Unified Investment Management purchased a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,165 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $503,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,284,745 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,823,964,000 after buying an additional 142,692 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 17.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,514,040 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $554,707,000 after purchasing an additional 380,071 shares during the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 69.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,435,823 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $565,671,000 after purchasing an additional 996,498 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in CME Group by 70.4% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in CME Group by 11.9% during 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 buying an additional 237,800 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total transaction of $997,872.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,774,211.62. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays upped 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 report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target 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. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $236.13.

CME Group Stock Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ:CME traded up $3.11 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $256.88. 2,640,327 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,841,551. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $258.39. The stock has a market cap of $92.57 billion, a PE ratio of 26.56, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $238.80 and a 200 day moving average of $229.58.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. 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.