Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Increases Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 19.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 304,084 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 48,987 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned about 0.08% of CME Group worth $80,670,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Guidance Capital Inc. purchased a new position in CME Group in the first quarter worth $311,000. Choreo LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 66.1% during the first quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 11,024 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,924,000 after buying an additional 4,387 shares during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 6.2% during the first quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 122,231 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $32,427,000 after buying an additional 7,139 shares during the period. Peterson Wealth Services boosted its position in CME Group by 11.3% during the first quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 9,670 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,565,000 after buying an additional 983 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Alliance LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 4.1% during the first quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC now owns 1,484 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $394,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on CME. Erste Group Bank lowered CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $269.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Wall Street Zen lowered CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 13th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $305.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $261.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director William R. Shepard bought 256 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were bought at an average price of $270.53 per share, for a total transaction of $69,255.68. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 258,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at $69,849,763.88. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Phyllis M. Lockett sold 1,060 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.88, for a total transaction of $294,552.80. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,108 shares in the company, valued at $863,651.04. This represents a 25.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,400 shares of company stock valued at $3,152,410 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

CME Group Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of CME traded up $0.70 on Thursday, hitting $277.18. 2,695,098 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,389,225. The company has a market capitalization of $99.88 billion, a PE ratio of 27.89, a P/E/G ratio of 4.79 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $276.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $261.54. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $193.25 and a one year high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.71% and a return on equity of 14.03%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.30%.

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.