CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by Mount Lucas Management LP

Mount Lucas Management LP decreased its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,722 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 174 shares during the quarter. Mount Lucas Management LP’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,561,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 2,432 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $565,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL now owns 7,614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,768,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Miramar Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Miramar Capital LLC now owns 59,143 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,735,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at $537,000. Finally, United Community Bank purchased a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays increased their target price on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $235.50.

CME Group Price Performance

CME opened at $254.57 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $240.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $230.85. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $258.78. The firm has a market cap of $91.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 51.71%.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,063,885.88. This represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 17,076 shares of company stock worth $4,271,496. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group 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.