Alpha Cubed Investments LLC Has $39.84 Million Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Alpha Cubed Investments LLC cut its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 171,559 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,070 shares during the quarter. CME Group makes up 1.8% of Alpha Cubed Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $39,841,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 36,292 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,428,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 41.2% during the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 11,985 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,783,000 after acquiring an additional 3,500 shares during the last quarter. First United Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in CME Group by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. First United Bank & Trust now owns 3,505 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $814,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Hamlin Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC now owns 780,547 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $181,266,000 after buying an additional 35,857 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 5,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,343,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total transaction of $312,062.88. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,652,298. This trade represents a 15.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.64, for a total transaction of $1,019,880.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 27,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,131,291.92. The trade was a 14.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,274 shares of company stock valued at $1,648,071 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME Group stock opened at $232.71 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $233.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $220.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $249.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.86 billion, a PE ratio of 24.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.29 and a beta of 0.56.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were given a $5.80 dividend. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 48.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CME. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on CME Group in a report on Thursday, September 26th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $221.00 target price for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $229.27.

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.