CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Stock Position Increased by Skba Capital Management LLC

Skba Capital Management LLC increased its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 73,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,280 shares during the quarter. CME Group comprises approximately 2.7% of Skba Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Skba Capital Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $17,113,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CME. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 1,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $411,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $137,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $549,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 437 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $101,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 approximately $2,063,885.88. This trade represents a 15.73 % 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 link. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,686,980. The trade was a 31.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $262.22 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $94.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.12, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $267.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $249.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $235.87.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. Sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on CME. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Raymond James raised shares of CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price 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. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $238.93.

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.