Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 9.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,029 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $471,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in CME Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 188.4% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 120.3% in the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 62.2% in the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 52.4% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CME has been the subject of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price 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. Redburn Atlantic downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley upped 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. Finally, Citigroup cut 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 report on Monday, January 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $229.27.

CME Group Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of CME stock opened at $232.53 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $83.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.45, a PEG ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 0.56. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $249.02. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $233.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $220.60.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.25 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

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

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $312,062.88. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,652,298. The trade was a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.64, for a total transaction of $1,019,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 27,053 shares in the company, valued at $6,131,291.92. This represents a 14.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,274 shares of company stock valued at $1,648,071 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.