PDT Partners LLC Decreases Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

PDT Partners LLC decreased its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 8.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 71,400 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 6,405 shares during the quarter. CME Group accounts for about 1.5% of PDT Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. PDT Partners LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $16,581,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its stake 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 in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 120.3% in the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the subject of several research reports. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $269.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $269.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Three 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $256.80.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Dennis Suskind sold 1,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.28, for a total transaction of $271,280.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,915 shares of the company's stock, valued at $790,781.20. The trade was a 25.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 21,885 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,076 shares of company stock valued at $7,670,976 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

CME Group Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of CME traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $277.11. 2,047,758 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,161,586. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $260.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $243.22. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $279.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.86 billion, a PE ratio of 28.66, a PEG 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.19. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.50 EPS. The business's revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

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