Kessler Investment Group LLC Invests $258,000 in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Kessler Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 973 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $258,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its position 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 valued at $20,190,000 after purchasing an additional 19,533 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of CME Group by 147.9% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,162 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $502,000 after acquiring an additional 1,290 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 9,042 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,100,000 after acquiring an additional 831 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, New York Life Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 53,508 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $12,426,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

CME Group Trading Up 0.7%

NASDAQ CME traded up $1.93 on Friday, reaching $274.76. The company had a trading volume of 2,681,948 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,208,080. The stock's 50 day moving average is $275.21 and its 200-day moving average is $256.68. The stock has a market cap of $99.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.64, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $193.17 and a 52 week high of $290.79.

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

CME Group Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CME. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group boosted their target price on CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Erste Group Bank downgraded CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Bank of America boosted their target price on CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price 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 given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $258.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Daniel G. Kaye sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.42, for a total transaction of $141,210.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,668 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,035,916.56. This represents a 12.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of the company'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 transaction, the director now directly owns 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. Insiders sold 13,400 shares of company stock worth $3,680,610 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.