Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Sells 20,200 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. decreased its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 7.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 266,231 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 20,200 shares during the quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned about 0.07% of CME Group worth $61,827,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its holdings 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 worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 50.0% in the 4th 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 purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its position in CME Group by 120.3% during the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of CME stock traded up $1.77 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $269.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 386,675 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,149,168. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.87, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $273.42. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $259.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $242.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. CME Group's payout ratio is currently 50.30%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. The trade was a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Larry G. Gerdes sold 2,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.10, for a total value of $528,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 38,651 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,207,729.10. The trade was a 4.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,076 shares of company stock worth $7,399,696 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price target on CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group raised their price target on CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.