Dearborn Partners LLC Has $351,000 Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Dearborn Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,512 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 77 shares during the quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $351,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 2.6% during 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. increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 8.4% in 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 increased its position in CME Group by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $549,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in CME Group by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 437 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $101,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Affirmative Financial Network raised its position in shares of CME Group by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 2,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $497,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $260.43 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $93.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $263.65. The company’s 50-day moving average is $241.25 and its 200 day moving average is $231.60.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,076 shares of company stock valued at $4,271,496 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Oppenheimer raised their price target 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. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $238.93.

About CME Group

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.