CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Bought by West Paces Advisors Inc.

West Paces Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 192.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $458,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Gold Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Northwest Financial Advisors bought a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 966.7% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Atticus Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the third quarter worth about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CME has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (down previously from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research report on Friday, April 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $206.00 to $187.00 in a report on Friday, June 21st. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $187.00 target price (up from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Argus increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $215.90.

CME Group Stock Up 0.6 %

CME traded up $1.10 on Wednesday, reaching $195.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,667,008 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,854,657. The company has a market capitalization of $70.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.22, a P/E/G ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 0.52. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $177.98 and a fifty-two week high of $223.80. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $206.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $208.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.48 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.45% and a net margin of 56.84%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.42 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 9.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were given a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.36%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.33%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.91, for a total value of $8,436,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 67,455 shares in the company, valued at $14,226,934.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.44, for a total transaction of $586,320.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,399,936.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.91, for a total value of $8,436,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 67,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,226,934.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 54,290 shares of company stock valued at $11,393,700. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.