Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Makes New $9.55 Million Investment in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 41,136 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $9,553,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its position 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 valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its position in CME Group by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA bought a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME traded up $2.29 during trading on Friday, hitting $276.29. The stock had a trading volume of 1,515,943 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,178,797. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $265.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $247.04. The firm has a market cap of $99.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.57, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $286.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

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

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. CME Group's payout ratio is 50.30%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,686,980. This represents a 31.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Derek Sammann sold 4,650 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.61, for a total value of $1,304,836.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,339,164.96. This trade represents a 35.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 23,134 shares of company stock worth $6,087,434. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group increased their target price on CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $269.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Piper Sandler raised their price target on CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, 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 note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CME Group presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $256.80.

CME Group 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.