Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,425 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 115 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,724,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in CME Group by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 133,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,907,000 after buying an additional 6,451 shares during the period. Cumberland Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter worth $1,858,000. Ieq Capital LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 260.6% during the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 85,109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,765,000 after buying an additional 61,510 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 7,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,626,000 after buying an additional 512 shares during the period. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 453.8% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 13,425 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,118,000 after acquiring an additional 11,001 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $236.13.

CME Group Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of CME opened at $248.88 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $237.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $227.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.74, a P/E/G ratio of 6.83 and a beta of 0.57. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $253.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. Analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders 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 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s payout ratio is 47.57%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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.