Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. Decreases Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 22.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $470,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,723,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC raised its stake in CME Group by 11.8% in the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its holdings in CME Group by 3.7% during the third quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $338,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Independent Wealth Network Inc. boosted its position in CME Group by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Independent Wealth Network Inc. now owns 2,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $623,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $131,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $234.68 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $234.02 and a 200 day moving average of $221.05. 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 0.56.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.25 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a dividend of $5.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.37%.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program 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 reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CME. Barclays upped their price objective on CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $235.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research note on Monday, January 6th. 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Four equities research 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 data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $229.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 27,053 shares in the company, valued at $6,131,291.92. This represents a 14.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total value of $89,168.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 25,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. This represents a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,274 shares of company stock worth $1,648,071. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.