Diversify Advisory Services LLC Raises Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Diversify Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 57.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,504 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,378 shares during the quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $1,772,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Markel Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 216.7% in the 1st quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 9,500 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,520,000 after buying an additional 6,500 shares during the period. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 49,185 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,048,000 after buying an additional 794 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 3,115 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $826,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the period. Cable Hill Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 1st quarter worth $204,000. Finally, Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 75,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $19,897,000 after buying an additional 1,088 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on CME Group from $282.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Citigroup raised their target price on CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, July 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $261.80.

CME Group Trading Down 1.1%

CME stock traded down $3.12 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $274.70. 2,197,249 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,183,774. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $193.25 and a 1-year high of $290.79. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $275.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $260.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.99 billion, a PE ratio of 27.64, a P/E/G ratio of 4.81 and a beta of 0.44.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.19. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.03% and a net margin of 57.71%. The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.50 EPS. CME Group's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. CME Group's payout ratio is currently 50.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 500 shares of the business'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 transaction, the director owned 4,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,300,215. The trade was a 9.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director William R. Shepard bought 256 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $270.53 per share, for a total transaction of $69,255.68. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 258,196 shares in the company, valued at $69,849,763.88. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 13,400 shares of company stock worth $3,680,610. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

About CME Group

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.