Peak Retirement Planning Inc. Makes New Investment in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Peak Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,632 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $843,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CME. Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at $3,368,000. GTS Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 186.2% during the 4th quarter. GTS Securities LLC now owns 3,039 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $706,000 after acquiring an additional 6,566 shares in the last quarter. Breed s Hill Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $247,000. Vise Technologies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 73.3% in the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 5,159 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,198,000 after acquiring an additional 2,182 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $248,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total transaction of $997,872.48. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,774,211.62. This represents a 12.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.56, for a total transaction of $817,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,471,824. The trade was a 35.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 28,384 shares of company stock worth $7,531,053 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Erste Group Bank upgraded CME Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Barclays lifted their price target on CME Group from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $269.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $287.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $256.80.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME traded up $0.29 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $284.36. The stock had a trading volume of 1,792,736 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,190,079. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $268.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $249.76. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $286.48. The company has a market capitalization of $102.47 billion, a PE ratio of 29.41, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45.

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 firm had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.50 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities 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. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.76%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.30%.

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.