Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. Buys 294 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. raised its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 20.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 294 shares during the quarter. Stegent Equity Advisors Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $410,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its stake in CME Group by 570.6% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 188.4% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 120.3% in the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $2,888,378.64. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, 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 report on Monday, November 11th. Four 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $236.13.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ CME opened at $247.99 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $237.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $228.44. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $253.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 51.71%.

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.