Geode Capital Management LLC Buys 104,697 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,389,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 104,697 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.33% of CME Group worth $1,946,717,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 108.7% in the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 12,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,949,000 after purchasing an additional 6,453 shares in the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. purchased a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $6,144,000. Spire Wealth Management lifted its position in CME Group by 37.4% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $307,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc grew its holdings in CME Group by 19.3% in the fourth quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 326,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,730,000 after purchasing an additional 52,862 shares during the period. Finally, Unified Investment Management purchased a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter worth about $503,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of 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 assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $238.93.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME stock opened at $265.29 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $95.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.43, 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 current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $267.91. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $250.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $236.21.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.71%.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback 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 purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 directly owns 8,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. This represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.