Cwm LLC Purchases 10,906 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 24.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,429 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 10,906 shares during the period. CWM LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $14,970,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,243,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,952,273,000 after buying an additional 326,623 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,389,442 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,946,717,000 after buying an additional 104,697 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 89.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,280,785 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,923,047,000 after buying an additional 3,921,278 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,107,389,000. Finally, FIL Ltd boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 4,081,391 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $947,821,000 after acquiring an additional 61,908 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.35, for a total transaction of $132,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,900 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,300,215. This represents a 9.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Phyllis M. Lockett sold 1,060 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.88, for a total value of $294,552.80. Following the sale, the director owned 3,108 shares in the company, valued at approximately $863,651.04. This represents a 25.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,400 shares of company stock worth $3,680,610 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME stock traded up $0.29 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $277.82. 2,018,887 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,177,223. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $276.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $260.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $193.25 and a twelve month high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.19. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.03% and a net margin of 57.71%. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.50 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CME. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective 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. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $261.80.

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.