BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC Acquires Shares of 2,598 CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC purchased a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 2,598 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $603,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CME. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC increased its position in CME Group by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 1,769 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $411,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. TFC Financial Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 592 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $137,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC grew its position in CME Group by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,362 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $549,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 437 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $101,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CME. Raymond James upgraded CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $287.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Barclays upped their price target on CME Group from $263.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Erste Group Bank raised CME Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $247.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $6,774,211.62. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $2,888,378.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME stock traded up $1.14 during trading on Friday, reaching $262.53. 1,794,607 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,142,838. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $273.42. The company has a market capitalization of $94.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $256.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $240.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. This is a boost from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is 51.71%.

CME Group Company 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.