City Holding Co. Has $1.24 Million Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

City Holding Co. lessened its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 81 shares during the quarter. City Holding Co.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,237,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meyer Handelman Co. acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,144,000. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC raised its position in CME Group by 58.4% during the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 613,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $135,441,000 after purchasing an additional 226,306 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,284,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,823,964,000 after buying an additional 142,692 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 149.4% during the 2nd quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 23,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,671,000 after buying an additional 14,234 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 41.8% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,028,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $224,432,000 after purchasing an additional 303,169 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $229.27.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $232.71 on Tuesday. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $249.02. The company has a market cap of $83.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.47, a P/E/G ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $233.29 and a 200-day moving average of $220.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 last year, the firm earned $2.25 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $312,062.88. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,652,298. This represents a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,587,935.64. This represents a 1.57 % 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 valued at $1,648,071 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by 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.