Braun Stacey Associates Inc. Buys 6,951 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Braun Stacey Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 7.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 104,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,951 shares during the period. Braun Stacey Associates Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $28,456,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Caldwell Trust Co raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 116.3% during the 3rd quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 93 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Financial Consulate Inc. bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its holdings in CME Group by 1,250.0% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ CME opened at $305.11 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $304.71 and a 200-day moving average of $283.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market cap of $109.42 billion, a PE ratio of 27.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.26. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $248.53 and a 52-week high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $0.02. CME Group had a net margin of 62.45% and a return on equity of 14.65%. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.52 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 46.59%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total value of $1,097,120.67. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 7,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,397,597.04. The trade was a 31.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $224,400.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,699 shares in the company, valued at approximately $809,700. This represents a 21.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 8,539 shares of company stock worth $2,713,821 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $333.00 to $347.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on CME Group from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on CME Group from $262.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $304.06.

About CME Group

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.