Phillips Wealth Planners LLC Buys 305 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Phillips Wealth Planners LLC boosted its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 16.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,217 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 305 shares during the period. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $508,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 188.4% during the 3rd 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. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 120.3% during the 4th 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. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 62.2% during the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 52.4% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $312,062.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,275 shares in the company, valued at $1,652,298. This represents a 15.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total value 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. The trade was a 8.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,274 shares of company stock worth $1,648,071. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CME Group Price Performance

NASDAQ CME opened at $232.53 on Thursday. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $249.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.45, a PEG ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $233.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $220.60.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.25 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group declared that its board has authorized 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 repurchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CME. Redburn Atlantic lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. TD Cowen began coverage on CME Group in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $221.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $229.27.

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.