Heartland Bank & Trust Co Makes New Investment in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Heartland Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,421 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $377,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,243,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,952,273,000 after buying an additional 326,623 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 104,697 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 3,921,278 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,107,389,000. Finally, FIL Ltd raised its position in shares of CME Group by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 4,081,391 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $947,821,000 after purchasing an additional 61,908 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Price Performance

CME opened at $273.99 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $192.11 and a fifty-two week high of $290.79. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $274.17 and a 200 day moving average of $255.51. 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 firm has a market cap of $98.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.56, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.45.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.71% and a return on equity of 14.03%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.50 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect 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 given a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is 50.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial raised CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $287.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Barclays upped 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $269.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $258.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total transaction of $81,951.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 24,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,765,601.39. This represents a 1.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Larry G. Gerdes sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 38,651 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,207,729.10. The trade was a 4.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 13,400 shares of company stock valued at $3,680,610. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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.

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