IPG Investment Advisors LLC Makes New $1.53 Million Investment in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

IPG Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 6,427 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,530,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,107,389,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $871,063,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in CME Group by 70.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $544,157,000 after buying an additional 1,003,119 shares during the period. Capital Wealth Planning LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 69.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,435,823 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $565,671,000 after acquiring an additional 996,498 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Egerton Capital UK LLP purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at $223,967,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the firm’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares in the company, valued at $6,774,211.62. The trade was a 12.84 % 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 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of CME stock opened at $262.22 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $267.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.49 billion, a PE 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 quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $249.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $235.75.

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

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on CME shares. Erste Group Bank upgraded CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Citigroup lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $238.93.

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.