Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Acquires 648,591 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 29.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,818,590 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 648,591 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 0.78% of CME Group worth $747,744,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dakota Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 126.4% in the first quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 6,017 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,596,000 after acquiring an additional 3,359 shares during the period. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $718,000. Sigma Planning Corp boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 23.3% in the first quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 13,178 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,496,000 after acquiring an additional 2,489 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 3.6% in the first quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,712 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $454,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 3.9% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,458 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,448,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Down 0.7%

CME Group stock traded down $2.06 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $275.00. 1,962,044 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,176,473. The company's fifty day moving average price is $276.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $259.92. The company has a market cap of $99.10 billion, a PE ratio of 27.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.83 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $193.25 and a fifty-two week high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.03% and a net margin of 57.71%. The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.50 EPS. CME Group's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William R. Shepard purchased 256 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $270.53 per share, for a total transaction of $69,255.68. Following the acquisition, the director owned 258,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at $69,849,763.88. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Phyllis M. Lockett sold 1,060 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.88, for a total value of $294,552.80. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,108 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $863,651.04. The trade was a 25.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 13,400 shares of company stock worth $3,680,610. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler increased their price target on CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America raised their target price on CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Citigroup raised their target price on CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $261.80.

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.