Cerity Partners LLC Purchases 10,097 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 13.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 83,014 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 10,097 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $18,929,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC raised 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 valued at $411,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. TFC Financial Management Inc. raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 437 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $101,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

CME Group Stock Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ:CME traded up $3.34 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $264.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 566,766 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,132,865. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $273.42. The business's 50-day moving average is $255.22 and its 200-day moving average is $239.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $95.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is an increase from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 51.71%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 21,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,686,980. This trade represents a 31.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value 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 $2,063,885.88. The trade was a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Erste Group Bank raised CME Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley raised CME Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $301.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Raymond James raised CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $287.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $247.47.

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.