Cullen Investment Group LTD. Acquires 1,429 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Cullen Investment Group LTD. raised its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 5.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,482 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,429 shares during the period. CME Group accounts for about 1.1% of Cullen Investment Group LTD.'s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Cullen Investment Group LTD.'s holdings in CME Group were worth $7,291,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 51.6% during the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 329 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in CME Group by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,168 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $920,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. BSW Wealth Partners grew its stake in CME Group by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 2,226 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $517,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC purchased a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $216,000. Finally, Smith Group Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth about $1,441,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

CME Group Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ:CME traded down $0.81 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $288.20. 621,987 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,180,735. The company has a fifty day moving average of $269.98 and a 200 day moving average of $251.44. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $290.12. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $103.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.79, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45.

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

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.73%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays boosted their target price 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 reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $269.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $269.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $256.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,873 shares in the company, valued at $5,686,980. This trade represents a 31.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Larry G. Gerdes sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.10, for a total transaction of $528,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 38,651 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,207,729.10. The trade was a 4.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 22,900 shares of company stock worth $6,147,935. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.