Peoples Bank KS Sells 100 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Peoples Bank KS reduced its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,225 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Peoples Bank KS’s holdings in CME Group were worth $981,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 0.6% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,723,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $96,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $338,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $131,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 4,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $943,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $237.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Redburn Atlantic cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday. Barclays upped their price target on CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $229.53.

CME Group Price Performance

CME opened at $227.01 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $232.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $218.15. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $249.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.25 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a $5.80 dividend. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.37%.

CME Group declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program 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 reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the company’s 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 owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total value of $226,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,589 shares in the company, valued at $2,403,279.44. This represents a 8.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 7,274 shares of company stock valued at $1,648,071. 0.30% of the stock is currently 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.