Trust Co. of Vermont Acquires 6,266 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Trust Co. of Vermont increased its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 12.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 57,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,266 shares during the quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in CME Group were worth $13,467,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,410 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $327,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 17,682 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,106,000 after buying an additional 951 shares during the last quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $201,000. Canoe Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 698.0% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 544,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,384,000 after acquiring an additional 476,019 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in CME Group by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,383 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $321,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ CME traded up $0.40 on Friday, hitting $232.71. The stock had a trading volume of 1,908,705 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,567,319. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $249.02. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $233.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $219.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $83.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 0.56.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.25 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.2 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a dividend of $5.80 per share. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,403,279.44. This trade represents a 8.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 7,274 shares of company stock valued at $1,648,071. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Monday, January 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $229.27.

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.