Aspire Growth Partners LLC Takes $548,000 Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Aspire Growth Partners LLC acquired a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,359 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $548,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CME. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its holdings in CME Group by 570.6% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 120.3% in the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME Group stock traded down $1.40 during trading on Thursday, hitting $283.42. 821,978 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,351,987. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $263.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $244.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $102.13 billion, a PE ratio of 29.31, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $286.48.

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

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is 50.30%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total transaction of $997,872.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 27,046 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,774,211.62. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dennis Suskind sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.28, for a total value of $271,280.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,915 shares in the company, valued at $790,781.20. This represents a 25.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,726 shares of company stock valued at $8,975,813 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on CME shares. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Erste Group Bank raised CME Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $256.80.

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.