Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC Purchases 71 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC boosted its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 26,596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. CME Group makes up 1.6% of Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $6,176,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in CME Group by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,723,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC grew its position in CME Group by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its position in CME Group by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $338,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Independent Wealth Network Inc. increased its stake in CME Group by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Independent Wealth Network Inc. now owns 2,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $623,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $131,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on CME shares. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup downgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $229.27.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $233.38 on Friday. 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 is $233.64 and its 200 day moving average is $220.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $84.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.54, a PEG ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 0.56.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a $5.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.37%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of CME Group 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were 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 approximately $1,652,298. This represents a 15.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,274 shares of company stock valued at $1,648,071 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.