Edgewood Management LLC Sells 1,000 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Edgewood Management LLC reduced its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 52,860 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. CME Group comprises approximately 0.0% of Edgewood Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Edgewood Management LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $12,276,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CME. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its position in CME Group by 570.6% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 188.4% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of CME Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $301.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Erste Group Bank upgraded CME Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Bank of America lifted their target price on CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $269.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $246.80.

CME Group Stock Up 2.1 %

CME traded up $5.40 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $263.79. The company had a trading volume of 973,391 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,127,946. The company has a market capitalization of $95.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.29, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $254.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $238.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $273.42.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. On average, research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. This is a positive change from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $2,888,378.64. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

About CME Group

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.