Shelton Capital Management Cuts Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Shelton Capital Management cut its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 80.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,511 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 14,200 shares during the period. Shelton Capital Management's holdings in CME Group were worth $815,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its position in 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 worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on CME. Oppenheimer upped their target price on CME Group from $269.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $269.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of CME Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Raymond James upgraded shares of CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $287.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded CME Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $301.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $247.47.

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Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the business'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 transaction, the director now directly owns 21,873 shares in the company, valued at $5,686,980. The trade was a 31.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. This trade represents a 15.73 % 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. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

CME Group Stock Up 0.4 %

CME stock traded up $0.97 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $264.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 521,750 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,133,494. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $273.42. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $255.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $239.56. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $95.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.37, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. This is a boost from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.