Heritage Trust Co Takes Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Heritage Trust Co purchased a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,306 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $303,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its holdings 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 raised its stake in 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 valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its position in CME Group by 120.3% during the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of CME Group 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CME has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America increased 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. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $269.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Raymond James upgraded CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $287.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $247.47.

CME Group Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ CME traded up $1.14 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $262.53. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,794,607 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,141,681. The business's 50 day moving average is $256.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $239.87. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $273.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market cap 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.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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 paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. This is a boost from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is 51.71%.

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.