CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Stake Raised by Crestwood Advisors Group LLC

Crestwood Advisors Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 6.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 122,231 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,139 shares during the quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $32,427,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its position in CME Group by 122.2% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its position in CME Group by 612.5% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in CME Group in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

CME Group Stock Up 0.1%

CME Group stock traded up $0.33 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $276.81. The stock had a trading volume of 1,007,390 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,376,688. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market cap of $99.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.85, a P/E/G ratio of 4.79 and a beta of 0.44. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $193.25 and a 12 month high of $290.79. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $276.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $261.54.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.03% and a net margin of 57.71%. CME Group's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.56 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.30%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.35, for a total value of $132,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,900 shares in the company, valued at $1,300,215. The trade was a 9.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Phyllis M. Lockett sold 1,060 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.88, for a total value of $294,552.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,108 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $863,651.04. The trade was a 25.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,400 shares of company stock valued at $3,152,410 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on CME shares. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $305.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on CME Group from $282.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays cut their price objective on CME Group from $299.00 to $298.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $261.73.

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.