Demars Financial Group LLC Increases Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Demars Financial Group LLC raised its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 15.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 610,756 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 83,543 shares during the period. CME Group accounts for 0.5% of Demars Financial Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Demars Financial Group LLC owned 0.17% of CME Group worth $162,027,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CME. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Banque Transatlantique SA bought a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, United Community Bank purchased a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler increased their price target on CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Three 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $258.20.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME traded up $2.19 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $269.70. 1,795,491 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,203,132. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $290.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a market cap of $97.19 billion, a PE ratio of 27.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $272.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $254.72.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.50 earnings per share. CME Group's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, Director Larry G. Gerdes sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.10, for a total value of $528,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 38,651 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,207,729.10. This represents a 4.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Dennis Suskind sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.28, for a total transaction of $271,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,915 shares of the company's stock, valued at $790,781.20. This trade represents a 25.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 13,400 shares of company stock worth $3,680,610. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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.