Sprott Inc. Sells 136 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Sprott Inc. lowered its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 136 shares during the quarter. Sprott Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $990,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its holdings in CME Group by 570.6% during the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 188.4% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its holdings in CME Group by 120.3% in the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $236.13.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME opened at $250.82 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $90.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.94, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $237.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $228.30. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $253.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

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

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the sale, the insider now owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.