Albert D Mason Inc. Makes New Investment in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Albert D Mason Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 5,973 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,585,000. CME Group comprises about 1.1% of Albert D Mason Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 50.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Banque Transatlantique SA bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, United Community Bank bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

CME Group Trading Down 0.5%

NASDAQ:CME traded down $1.46 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $269.50. 1,576,352 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,198,614. The company's 50 day moving average is $272.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $254.03. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $290.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a market capitalization of $97.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.19. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.50 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.30%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Derek Sammann sold 4,650 shares of the company'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 in the company, valued at $2,339,164.96. This represents a 35.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Charles P. Carey sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.35, for a total transaction of $132,675.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,900 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,300,215. This represents a 9.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,400 shares of company stock valued at $3,680,610 in the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on CME Group from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on CME Group from $282.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $258.20.

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.