Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group Inc. significantly increased its stake in CME Group by 1,847.5%, acquiring 38,502 shares and bringing its total ownership to 40,586 shares valued at approximately $10.77 million.
• Insider transactions included Director Phyllis M. Lockett selling 1,060 shares at an average price of $277.88, resulting in a 25.43% decrease in her holdings.
• CME Group recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.25 per share, providing an annualized dividend yield of 1.8%, while the company reported earnings of $2.96 per share, beating analysts' expectations.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 1,847.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,586 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 38,502 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in CME Group were worth $10,767,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Heartland Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $377,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 256.9% in the first quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,662 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $971,000 after buying an additional 2,636 shares during the period. OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $367,000. Fulcrum Equity Management acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $258,000. Finally, Aspire Growth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $548,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $305.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays set a $298.00 target price on shares of CME Group and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 13th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $261.93.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 390 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.50, for a total value of $108,225.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 6,708 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,861,470. This trade represents a 5.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.56, for a total value of $817,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,400 shares in the company, valued at $1,471,824. This trade represents a 35.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,400 shares of company stock valued at $2,881,130. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

CME Group Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ CME traded up $2.48 during trading on Friday, reaching $280.76. The company had a trading volume of 3,011,041 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,073,115. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.62 and a 12-month high of $290.79. The stock has a market cap of $101.17 billion, a PE ratio of 27.18, a P/E/G ratio of 4.99 and a beta of 0.44. The business's 50-day moving average is $276.07 and its 200 day moving average is $264.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.05. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 58.48%. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.56 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 48.40%.

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.