Ascent Group LLC Has $3.94 Million Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Ascent Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 22.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,969 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,147 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $3,941,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 55,758 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $12,949,000 after purchasing an additional 7,285 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,115 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $491,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 51.6% during the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 329 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 76.1% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 18,747 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,354,000 after purchasing an additional 8,103 shares during the period. Finally, Benin Management CORP lifted its position in CME Group by 33.6% during the 4th quarter. Benin Management CORP now owns 2,940 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $683,000 after purchasing an additional 740 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total value of $81,951.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,767 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,765,601.39. This trade represents a 1.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total transaction of $997,872.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,774,211.62. This represents a 12.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 28,384 shares of company stock valued at $7,531,053 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Stock Up 0.6%

NASDAQ CME traded up $1.62 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $285.98. 2,295,825 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,187,760. The company's 50-day moving average is $268.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $250.00. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $287.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a market capitalization of $103.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45.

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

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on CME shares. Raymond James upgraded 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 research report on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $269.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target 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. 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.com, CME Group has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $256.80.

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.