PDS Planning Inc Grows Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

PDS Planning Inc raised its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 182 shares during the quarter. PDS Planning Inc’s holdings in CME Group were worth $585,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth about $871,063,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 70.4% in the third 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. Capital Wealth Planning LLC raised its stake 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 worth $565,671,000 after purchasing an additional 996,498 shares during the last quarter. Egerton Capital UK LLP purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth about $223,967,000. Finally, Canoe Financial LP raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 698.0% in the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 544,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,384,000 after purchasing an additional 476,019 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $2,600,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 21,873 shares in the company, valued at $5,686,980. The trade was 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 the SEC website. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at $2,063,885.88. This represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of CME opened at $266.49 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $266.93. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $244.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $233.28. The firm has a market cap of $96.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.56, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on CME shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays raised their price objective on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Raymond James upgraded CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” 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 and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $238.93.

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.