CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Purchased by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. increased its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 37.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 53,438 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 14,519 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in CME Group were worth $12,410,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC raised its stake in CME Group by 108.7% during the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 12,390 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,949,000 after purchasing an additional 6,453 shares in the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at $6,144,000. Unified Investment Management purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at $503,000. Spire Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 37.4% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,320 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $307,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the period. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 19.3% in the fourth quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 326,098 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $75,730,000 after acquiring an additional 52,862 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $256.80.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME Group stock traded down $13.88 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $270.47. The company had a trading volume of 4,904,770 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,166,188. The stock has a market cap of $97.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.97, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $264.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $245.78. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $287.36.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.50 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

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 issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.30%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Derek Sammann sold 4,650 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.61, for a total value of $1,304,836.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 8,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,339,164.96. The trade was a 35.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dennis Suskind sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.28, for a total transaction of $271,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 2,915 shares of the company's stock, valued at $790,781.20. This trade represents a 25.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,726 shares of company stock valued at $8,975,813 in the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.