New Hampshire Trust Sells 859 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

New Hampshire Trust lessened its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 36.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 859 shares during the period. New Hampshire Trust’s holdings in CME Group were worth $347,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its position in CME Group by 188.4% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 120.3% during the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its position in CME Group by 62.2% during the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 52.4% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CME. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays increased their target price on CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $235.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $229.27.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total transaction of $312,062.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,652,298. This represents a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.64, for a total value of $1,019,880.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,053 shares in the company, valued at $6,131,291.92. This trade represents a 14.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,274 shares of company stock valued at $1,648,071. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME opened at $232.71 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $83.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.47, a P/E/G ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $233.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $220.09. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $249.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.25 EPS. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a dividend of $5.80 per share. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.37%.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase 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 buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.