Mariner LLC Purchases 4,024 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Mariner LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 98,052 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,024 shares during the period. Mariner LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $22,770,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SageView Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 71.5% during the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 5,166 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,200,000 after buying an additional 2,153 shares in the last quarter. Stamos Capital Partners L.P. grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 63.7% in the 4th quarter. Stamos Capital Partners L.P. now owns 17,200 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,994,000 after acquiring an additional 6,690 shares in the last quarter. BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $603,000. Advisors Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 102,818 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $23,877,000 after purchasing an additional 864 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth about $5,658,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on CME. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup lowered CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price 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. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $247.47.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME Group stock traded up $3.71 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $264.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 263,028 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,138,931. The company has a market capitalization of $95.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.29, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $257.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $240.90. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $273.42. 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 (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%. Sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. This is a boost from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group's payout ratio is currently 51.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the company'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 value of $997,872.48. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,774,211.62. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 21,873 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,686,980. The trade was a 31.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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.