MSH Capital Advisors LLC Takes Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

MSH Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 10,533 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,446,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased 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 worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $269.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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. Barclays upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $263.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $269.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $247.47.

CME Group Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of CME Group stock traded down $2.41 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $260.12. 766,935 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,139,338. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $257.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $240.65. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve 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.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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%. Research analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $1.25 dividend. This is a positive change from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is 51.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.