IFM Investors Pty Ltd Acquires 6,653 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 10.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 73,216 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 6,653 shares during the quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings in CME Group were worth $19,423,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its holdings in CME Group by 29.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 86,941 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $20,190,000 after purchasing an additional 19,533 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at $243,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in CME Group by 45.0% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 4,575 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,062,000 after purchasing an additional 1,419 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,204 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $512,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in CME Group by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 236,953 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $55,028,000 after purchasing an additional 1,339 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of CME Group stock traded down $1.00 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $274.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,234,017 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,189,328. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $193.17 and a 12 month high of $290.79. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $276.40 and a 200 day moving average of $258.03. The company has a market capitalization of $99.04 billion, a PE ratio of 27.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

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

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.82%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is 50.30%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, Director Larry G. Gerdes sold 2,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 38,651 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,207,729.10. The trade was a 4.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.56, for a total value of $817,680.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,471,824. This represents a 35.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 13,400 shares of company stock valued at $3,680,610. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on CME shares. Citigroup upped their price target on CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays upped their price target on CME Group from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $269.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $259.87.

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.