Merit Financial Group LLC Buys Shares of 1,882 Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBOE)

Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBOE - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,882 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $426,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CBOE. New York Life Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Cboe Global Markets by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 15,531 shares of the company's stock worth $3,035,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Cboe Global Markets by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 10,908 shares of the company's stock worth $2,131,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cboe Global Markets by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,570 shares of the company's stock worth $893,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC boosted its position in Cboe Global Markets by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 3,127 shares of the company's stock valued at $611,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc boosted its position in Cboe Global Markets by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 1,196 shares of the company's stock valued at $234,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. 82.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CBOE shares. Bank of America reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $227.00 target price (down from $260.00) on shares of Cboe Global Markets in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Cboe Global Markets from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Cboe Global Markets from $237.00 to $249.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cboe Global Markets from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Cboe Global Markets from $232.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $219.64.

Cboe Global Markets Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CBOE traded down $0.49 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $225.81. 723,407 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 887,860. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $221.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $211.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market cap of $23.65 billion, a PE ratio of 31.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.43. Cboe Global Markets, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $166.13 and a fifty-two week high of $236.02.

Cboe Global Markets (NASDAQ:CBOE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.14. Cboe Global Markets had a return on equity of 22.02% and a net margin of 18.64%. Cboe Global Markets's revenue for the quarter was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.15 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Cboe Global Markets, Inc. will post 8.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cboe Global Markets Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.12%. Cboe Global Markets's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.03%.

Insider Transactions at Cboe Global Markets

In related news, EVP Catherine R. Clay sold 3,598 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.58, for a total transaction of $815,234.84. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $494,624.14. This trade represents a 62.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

About Cboe Global Markets

Cboe Global Markets, Inc is one of the largest stock exchange operators by volume in the United States and a leading market globally for ETP trading. Cboe offers trading across a diverse range of products in multiple asset classes and geographies, including options, futures, U.S. and European equities, exchange-traded products (ETPs), global foreign exchange (FX) and multi-asset volatility products based on the VIX Index.