Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC Makes New $202,000 Investment in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,723,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 11.8% during the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. First Affirmative Financial Network grew 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 during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its position in shares of CME Group by 3.7% in the third quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, Independent Wealth Network Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Independent Wealth Network Inc. now owns 2,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $623,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Up 1.5 %

CME stock opened at $235.92 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $85.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.81, a PEG ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a fifty day moving average of $234.40 and a 200-day moving average of $222.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $249.02.

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CME. Citigroup downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $229.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total transaction of $89,168.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. This trade represents a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.