U S Global Investors Inc. Takes Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

U S Global Investors Inc. acquired a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 461 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $107,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in CME Group by 70.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $544,157,000 after buying an additional 1,003,119 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP increased its position in shares of CME Group by 698.0% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 544,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,384,000 after purchasing an additional 476,019 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 17.8% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,514,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $554,707,000 after acquiring an additional 380,071 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth $79,692,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in CME Group by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,028,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $224,432,000 after purchasing an additional 303,169 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ:CME opened at $249.85 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $253.53. The company has a market cap of $90.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $238.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $228.59.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 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%. As a group, analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.71%.

CME Group declared that its board has authorized a share 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 purchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CME shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Four 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. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $236.13.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.