Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Purchases 1,052 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 1.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,810 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,052 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $15,071,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 50.0% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Banque Transatlantique SA bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, United Community Bank bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

CME Group Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of CME stock opened at $272.10 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market cap of $98.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $273.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $254.94. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $192.11 and a 1 year high of $290.79.

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

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.30%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.56, for a total transaction of $817,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,400 shares in the company, valued at $1,471,824. This represents a 35.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel G. Kaye sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.42, for a total value of $141,210.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,668 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,035,916.56. The trade was a 12.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $269.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Bank of America lifted their price target on CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price target on CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target 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. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on CME Group from $282.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Three 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, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $258.20.

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.

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