CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Stock Position Raised by Pallas Capital Advisors LLC

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 454 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,756,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,284,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,823,964,000 after acquiring an additional 142,692 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 11.3% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,283,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,038,676,000 after purchasing an additional 537,758 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 6.6% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,835,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $557,371,000 after buying an additional 176,004 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 17.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,514,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $554,707,000 after buying an additional 380,071 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in CME Group by 70.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $544,157,000 after buying an additional 1,003,119 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of CME opened at $229.45 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $249.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.13, a P/E/G ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $232.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $219.11.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The firm’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.25 earnings per share. Analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a $5.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.37%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total transaction of $89,168.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. This trade represents a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total transaction of $226,960.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,589 shares in the company, valued at $2,403,279.44. The trade was a 8.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,274 shares of company stock worth $1,648,071 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $229.27.

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.