MBM Wealth Consultants LLC Boosts Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

MBM Wealth Consultants LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 83 shares during the quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $279,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 218.3% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 357,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $85,057,000 after buying an additional 245,040 shares during the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 28.5% during the fourth quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 1,523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $354,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,029 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $471,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 25.6% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 358 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 34.1% during the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $865,000 after purchasing an additional 947 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $232.25 on Wednesday. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $249.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $233.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $220.35. The company has a market capitalization of $83.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.42, a PEG ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 0.56.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.25 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a dividend of $5.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. CME Group’s payout ratio is 48.37%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $312,062.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,652,298. This represents a 15.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.64, for a total transaction of $1,019,880.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,131,291.92. This trade represents a 14.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,274 shares of company stock valued at $1,648,071 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a report on Monday, January 6th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. They set a “hold” rating and a $221.00 target price for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $229.27.

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.