Sawgrass Asset Management LLC Acquires New Shares in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC bought a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 909 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. TFC Financial Management Inc. raised its stake in CME Group by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $137,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $232,000. Naples Global Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 2,550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $607,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Avion Wealth increased its position in CME Group by 68.1% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich lifted its holdings in CME Group by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich now owns 8,172 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,897,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on CME. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased 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 report on Monday, January 13th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $234.07.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $250.11 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $253.53. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $235.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $225.08. The company has a market capitalization of $90.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.30, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. 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 approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.37%.

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.