Merit Financial Group LLC Invests $350,000 in Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (BATS:CBOE)

Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (BATS:CBOE) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,959 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $350,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Cboe Global Markets by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 1,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $244,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Cboe Global Markets by 75.3% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 170 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its stake in Cboe Global Markets by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 3,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Cboe Global Markets by 4.9% in the third quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,325 shares of the company’s stock worth $363,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Martin Capital Advisors LLP lifted its stake in shares of Cboe Global Markets by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Martin Capital Advisors LLP now owns 1,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $303,000 after buying an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. 81.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cboe Global Markets news, EVP Dave Howson sold 5,322 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.96, for a total transaction of $995,001.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,573 shares in the company, valued at $3,285,448.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on CBOE shares. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $206.00 price objective on shares of Cboe Global Markets in a report on Monday. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on Cboe Global Markets from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Barclays increased their price objective on Cboe Global Markets from $211.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Citigroup boosted their target price on Cboe Global Markets from $170.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $199.00 price target (down from $211.00) on shares of Cboe Global Markets in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $191.00.

Cboe Global Markets Price Performance

BATS CBOE opened at $185.44 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $181.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $180.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market cap of $19.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 95.59 and a beta of 0.61. Cboe Global Markets, Inc. has a 12 month low of $103.82 and a 12 month high of $139.00.

Cboe Global Markets (BATS:CBOE) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $502.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $504.80 million. Cboe Global Markets had a net margin of 5.77% and a return on equity of 20.05%. Cboe Global Markets’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.90 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Cboe Global Markets, Inc. will post 6.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Cboe Global Markets Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Cboe Global Markets’s dividend payout ratio is currently 98.97%.

About Cboe Global Markets

Cboe Global Markets, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as an options exchange worldwide. It operates through six segments: Options, North American Equities, Europe and Asia Pacific, Futures, Global FX, and Digital. The Options segment trades in listed market indices. The North American Equities segment trades in listed U.S.