Bogart Wealth LLC Cuts Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Bogart Wealth LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 64,710 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 546 shares during the period. CME Group makes up about 0.7% of Bogart Wealth LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Bogart Wealth LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $15,028,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in 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 valued at $1,723,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 1,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $411,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $137,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $549,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Affirmative Financial Network boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 2,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $497,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on CME shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $234.07.

CME Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $250.11 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $235.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $225.08. The stock has a market cap of $90.13 billion, a PE ratio of 26.30, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $253.53.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. As a group, analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.37%.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.