Rafferty Asset Management LLC Grows Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 127,133 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,049 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $29,524,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,339 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $311,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in CME Group by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,778 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,806,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in CME Group by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 13,366 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,104,000 after acquiring an additional 968 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its stake in CME Group by 40.4% in the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 271 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Radnor Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Radnor Capital Management LLC now owns 1,065 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME traded up $1.65 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $277.94. 1,617,773 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,179,403. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $286.48. 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 market cap of $100.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.74, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $265.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $247.33.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.19. The company 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%. The company's revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.50 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. CME Group's payout ratio is 50.30%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. The trade was a 15.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total transaction of $81,951.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 24,767 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,765,601.39. The trade was a 1.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 26,434 shares of company stock worth $6,987,065. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CME. Piper Sandler raised 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. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on CME Group from $269.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Raymond James raised CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $287.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective 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 issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $256.80.

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.