2,372 Shares in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Bought by Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 2,372 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $551,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CME. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its position in CME Group by 570.6% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 27,046 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,774,211.62. The trade was a 12.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,063,885.88. The trade was a 15.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,134 shares of company stock worth $6,087,434 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CME has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays raised their price target on CME Group from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group lifted their target price on CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $269.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Bank of America lifted their target price on CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $256.80.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME traded up $2.29 during trading on Friday, reaching $276.29. The stock had a trading volume of 1,515,943 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,181,658. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $286.48. The business's 50-day moving average price is $265.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $247.18. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $99.56 billion, a PE ratio of 28.57, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.19. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.50 earnings per share. CME Group's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.30%.

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.