AQR Capital Management LLC Grows Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 31.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,523,694 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 598,027 shares during the period. CME Group accounts for about 0.8% of AQR Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.70% of CME Group worth $586,078,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 50.0% during the 4th 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. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 1,769 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $411,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. increased its holdings in CME Group by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 592 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $137,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in CME Group by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,362 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $549,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in CME Group by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 437 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $101,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CME shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Raymond James upgraded shares of CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $287.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, March 10th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of CME Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $256.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total transaction of $997,872.48. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,774,211.62. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 30,076 shares of company stock valued at $7,670,976. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of CME Group stock traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $277.11. 2,047,758 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,161,586. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $279.81. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $260.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $243.22. The company has a market cap of $99.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued 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. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.50 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is an increase from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.