United Capital Financial Advisors LLC Has $17.99 Million Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 14.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 77,480 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 13,529 shares during the period. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $17,993,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC now owns 4,200 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $975,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its position in CME Group by 50.2% in the fourth quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 1,940 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $451,000 after buying an additional 648 shares during the last quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 18,603 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,320,000 after buying an additional 1,283 shares in the last quarter. Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at $2,086,000. Finally, Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth $7,925,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at $2,063,885.88. The trade was a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total transaction of $997,872.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 27,046 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,774,211.62. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CME traded down $1.09 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $261.44. 598,618 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,385,531. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $273.42. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $257.19 and a 200 day moving average of $240.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.04, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS 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%. On average, 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. This is an increase from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James raised CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $287.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Barclays increased 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. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on 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 given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $247.47.

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.