Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Has $1.22 Million Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 73.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,217 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,210 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $1,223,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CME. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in CME Group by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 419,532 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $92,570,000 after purchasing an additional 17,508 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 30,170 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,557 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted 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. Finally, ORG Partners LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 225.6% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,335 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 925 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on CME shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Erste Group Bank upgraded CME Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $269.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $256.80.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. This trade represents a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Larry G. Gerdes sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.10, for a total transaction of $528,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 38,651 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 34,726 shares of company stock worth $8,975,813 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME traded up $2.36 during trading on Friday, hitting $284.35. The company had a trading volume of 953,386 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,155,183. 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 is $264.47 and its 200 day moving average is $245.67. The company has a market cap of $102.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.41, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 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%. CME Group's revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.50 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company 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 $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.30%.

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.