Optimize Financial Inc Acquires New Shares in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Optimize Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,456 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $338,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CME. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 570.6% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its holdings in CME Group by 120.3% in the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup cut CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley upgraded 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. Raymond James raised shares of CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $287.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $269.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $247.47.

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CME Group Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ CME traded up $1.14 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $262.53. 1,794,607 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,141,681. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $273.42. The company has a market capitalization of $94.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.15, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $256.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $239.87.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. 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 firm also recently disclosed 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 1.90%. This is an increase from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 51.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 21,873 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,686,980. This represents a 31.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. This trade represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company 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.