CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 68.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,028 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $220,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its holdings in CME Group by 267.1% in the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 2,816 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $621,000 after purchasing an additional 2,049 shares during the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 10.0% during the third quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 10,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,320,000 after acquiring an additional 957 shares during the last quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 13.4% during the third quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 2,602 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $574,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 51.3% during the third quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,359 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $741,000 after acquiring an additional 1,139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 11.8% during the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price 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 analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $229.27.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME Group stock opened at $241.81 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $235.48 and its 200-day moving average is $224.32. The company has a market cap of $87.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57. 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 Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $249.02.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. This is an increase 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 52.58%.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is 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.