Corton Capital Inc. Buys New Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Corton Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,514 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $352,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Crestline Management LP bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,501,000. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC bought a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth $6,735,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of CME Group by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 33,877 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,867,000 after acquiring an additional 2,006 shares during the period. Cercano Management LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $303,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 35.7% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 16,653 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,867,000 after purchasing an additional 4,377 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on CME shares. Bank of America upped their price target on CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Erste Group Bank upgraded CME Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $287.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $256.80.

CME Group Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of CME Group stock traded up $2.36 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $284.35. The company had a trading volume of 953,386 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,153,918. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $286.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a 50 day moving average of $264.47 and a 200 day moving average of $245.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.41, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. CME Group's revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.50 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.76%. CME Group's payout ratio is currently 50.30%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $2,888,378.64. Following the sale, the insider now owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the business's 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 34,726 shares of company stock valued at $8,975,813. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About CME Group

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.