979 Shares in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Purchased by Natural Investments LLC

Natural Investments LLC purchased a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 979 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $227,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Markel Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter worth $697,000. Donaldson Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 223,822 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $51,978,000 after purchasing an additional 7,721 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its position in CME Group by 77.6% in the 4th quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 2,431 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $564,000 after purchasing an additional 1,062 shares in the last quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $308,000. Finally, Dearborn Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 1,512 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $351,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on CME shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays upped their price objective on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup lowered shares of CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $238.93.

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CME Group Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of CME stock opened at $256.72 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.55, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $241.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $231.77. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $263.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. As a group, analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.25 dividend. This is a positive change from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.71%.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. The trade was a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total transaction of $997,872.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares in the company, valued at $6,774,211.62. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,076 shares of company stock worth $4,271,496. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company 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.

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