CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Stake Raised by NewEdge Advisors LLC

NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,118 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,745 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $12,335,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,243,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,952,273,000 after purchasing an additional 326,623 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,389,442 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,946,717,000 after purchasing an additional 104,697 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at $1,107,389,000. FIL Ltd lifted its position in CME Group by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 4,081,391 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $947,821,000 after buying an additional 61,908 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $871,063,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on CME shares. Raymond James raised shares of CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $287.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Barclays lifted their target price on CME Group from $263.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Erste Group Bank upgraded CME Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on CME Group from $269.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $247.47.

CME Group Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CME traded down $2.20 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $260.33. The company had a trading volume of 2,477,098 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,146,103. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $273.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.92, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $257.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $240.65.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is a positive change from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 51.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at $2,063,885.88. This represents a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.