Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Sells 75 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lessened its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,384 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 75 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,715,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Atomi Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 34.1% during the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $865,000 after acquiring an additional 947 shares in the last quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 36,292 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,428,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 41.2% during the 4th quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 11,985 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,783,000 after purchasing an additional 3,500 shares during the last quarter. First United Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. First United Bank & Trust now owns 3,505 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $814,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hamlin Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC now owns 780,547 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $181,266,000 after purchasing an additional 35,857 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $235.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays upped their price target on CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $229.27.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total transaction of $226,960.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,589 shares in the company, valued at $2,403,279.44. This represents a 8.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total value of $89,168.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. This trade represents a 1.57 % 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 valued at $1,648,071. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of CME opened at $233.38 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $249.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $233.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $220.69. The stock has a market cap of $84.10 billion, a PE ratio of 24.54, a PEG ratio of 5.27 and a beta of 0.56.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were issued 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 presently 48.37%.

CME Group announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.