FineMark National Bank & Trust Grows Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

FineMark National Bank & Trust raised its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,157 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. FineMark National Bank & Trust’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,198,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in CME Group by 60.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 72,917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,089,000 after purchasing an additional 27,332 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its position in CME Group by 0.8% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 71,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,677,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 752.9% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $512,000 after purchasing an additional 2,048 shares during the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 9.7% in the third quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 3,608 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $796,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 2.5% during the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 7,135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,574,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on CME shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Erste Group Bank raised CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $238.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,774,211.62. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ:CME opened at $262.06 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.10, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $247.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $234.95. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $267.91. 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 (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase 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 repurchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Company 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.