McGuire Investment Group LLC Boosts Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

McGuire Investment Group LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 42,816 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the quarter. CME Group makes up 1.4% of McGuire Investment Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. McGuire Investment Group LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $9,943,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Benin Management CORP raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 33.6% in the fourth quarter. Benin Management CORP now owns 2,940 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $683,000 after buying an additional 740 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 76.1% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 18,747 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,354,000 after buying an additional 8,103 shares during the last quarter. Manitou Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Manitou Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $734,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 26,596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,176,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MFA Wealth Services purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $220,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Up 0.6 %

CME stock opened at $234.68 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.68, a P/E/G ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $233.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $220.78. 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 $249.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. The business 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.25 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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 paid a dividend of $5.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 48.37%.

CME Group declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on CME shares. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced 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 report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Monday, January 6th. Four equities 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $229.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total transaction of $89,168.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.64, for a total transaction of $1,019,880.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 27,053 shares in the company, valued at $6,131,291.92. The trade was a 14.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 7,274 shares of company stock worth $1,648,071. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.