RWA Wealth Partners LLC Grows Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

RWA Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 106.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,576 shares during the period. RWA Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $708,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CME. FMR LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 3.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,108,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $244,560,000 after acquiring an additional 37,911 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 23.9% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 12,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,709,000 after purchasing an additional 2,370 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 2,602.8% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 85,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,857,000 after purchasing an additional 82,300 shares in the last quarter. Aureus Asset Management LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Aureus Asset Management LLC now owns 25,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,557,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in CME Group by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $543,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on CME. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $238.93.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $2,888,378.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 21,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,686,980. This represents a 31.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ:CME opened at $265.29 on Tuesday. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $267.91. 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 has a fifty day moving average price of $250.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $236.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.43, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $1.25 dividend. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.71%.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Company 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.