MetLife Investment Management LLC Raises Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 95,366 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,744 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $22,147,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CME. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its position 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 worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. TFC Financial Management Inc. boosted its holdings in CME Group by 8.4% in 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 last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC increased its position in CME Group by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,362 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $549,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 437 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $101,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was 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 directly owns 21,873 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,686,980. This trade represents a 31.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CME shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of CME Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $301.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup cut CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective 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. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $269.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Four 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, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $247.73.

CME Group Stock Down 1.5 %

CME Group stock traded down $4.08 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $261.48. 3,475,218 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,155,814. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $273.42. The business's 50-day moving average price is $257.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $241.07.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. On average, research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. 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 payout ratio is presently 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.