CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Stock Position Lifted by Level Four Advisory Services LLC

Level Four Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,359 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 789 shares during the quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $2,638,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group during the third quarter valued at $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 570.6% during the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 188.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CME has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $238.93.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ CME opened at $262.22 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $249.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $235.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.12, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $267.91.

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, beating 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

CME Group announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In related news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $2,888,378.64. Following the sale, the insider now owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total value of $997,872.48. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 27,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,774,211.62. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496 in the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.