Pollock Investment Advisors LLC Takes Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Pollock Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 4,983 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,157,000. CME Group accounts for about 0.9% of Pollock Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,284,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,823,964,000 after purchasing an additional 142,692 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $871,063,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in CME Group by 17.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,514,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $554,707,000 after buying an additional 380,071 shares during the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC raised its position in CME Group by 69.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,435,823 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $565,671,000 after acquiring an additional 996,498 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 70.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $544,157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,119 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,774,211.62. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s 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 $2,063,885.88. The trade was a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 17,076 shares of company stock worth $4,271,496. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CME shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays raised their price objective on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $238.93.

CME Group Stock Down 0.4 %

CME opened at $258.68 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $93.22 billion, a PE ratio of 26.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $242.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $232.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $263.65.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly 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%. Analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan 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 buy up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.71%.

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.