CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Bought by Exchange Traded Concepts LLC

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 32,395 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,105 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $8,846,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CME. Caldwell Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 116.3% in the 3rd quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 93 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Financial Consulate Inc. purchased a new stake in CME Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its position in CME Group by 1,250.0% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Sagard Holdings Management Inc. acquired a new position in CME Group during the second quarter worth $30,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on CME. TD Cowen raised their price target on CME Group from $305.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Raymond James Financial cut their price objective on CME Group from $311.00 to $310.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded CME Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on CME Group from $266.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $304.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William R. Shepard bought 251 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $278.37 per share, with a total value of $69,870.87. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 258,710 shares in the company, valued at $72,017,102.70. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.90, for a total transaction of $91,770.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 24,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,647,194.10. This trade represents a 1.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,539 shares of company stock worth $2,713,821. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

CME Group stock opened at $293.78 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $105.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $248.53 and a twelve month high of $329.16. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $302.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $281.88.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by $0.02. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.65% and a net margin of 62.45%.The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.52 earnings per share. CME Group’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 10th. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.59%.

CME Group Company Profile

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world’s largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company’s core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.