Crux Wealth Advisors Buys New Shares in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Crux Wealth Advisors bought a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 4,353 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,011,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CME. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 570.6% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 120.3% in the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on CME shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $269.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup lowered CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $247.47.

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Insider Activity

In related news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at $2,063,885.88. The trade was a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $2,888,378.64. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % 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 currently owned by company insiders.

CME Group Trading Up 1.1 %

CME traded up $2.82 during trading on Thursday, hitting $264.21. 775,121 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,137,792. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $273.42. The firm has a market cap of $95.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.36, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $256.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $239.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, equities analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.71%.

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.