Fulcrum Capital LLC Boosts Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Fulcrum Capital LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 44,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the quarter. CME Group makes up about 2.2% of Fulcrum Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Fulcrum Capital LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $10,385,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wedmont Private Capital increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $642,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management increased its holdings in CME Group by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 34,563 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,026,000 after acquiring an additional 833 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH increased its holdings in CME Group by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 8,914 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,070,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC raised its position in CME Group by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 23,485 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,454,000 after acquiring an additional 3,571 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its position in shares of CME Group by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 78,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,145,000 after purchasing an additional 4,778 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of CME Group 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 directly owns 25,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total transaction of $312,062.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,652,298. This trade represents a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,274 shares of company stock worth $1,648,071 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Up 0.4 %

CME Group stock traded up $0.82 during trading on Monday, hitting $230.02. The company had a trading volume of 856,043 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,974,364. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $232.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $218.87. The stock has a market cap of $82.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56.

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

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a $5.80 dividend. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. CME Group’s payout ratio is 48.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the topic of a number of research reports. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler raised their target price 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $229.27.

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.