Cercano Management LLC Buys New Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Cercano Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,303 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $303,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,107,389,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 89.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,280,785 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,923,047,000 after purchasing an additional 3,921,278 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $871,063,000. Capital Wealth Planning LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 69.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,435,823 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $565,671,000 after purchasing an additional 996,498 shares during the period. Finally, Egerton Capital UK LLP purchased a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $223,967,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME opened at $282.56 on Tuesday. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $284.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.82 billion, a PE ratio of 29.22, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $262.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $244.22.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $1.25 dividend. This is a boost from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 50.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $269.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Erste Group Bank upgraded CME Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. UBS Group raised their price objective on CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup downgraded CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Three 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $256.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. This represents a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $2,888,378.64. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 30,076 shares of company stock valued at $7,670,976 in the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CME? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.