Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires 6,132 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 105.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,929 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,132 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $3,165,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.1% in the first quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 1,755,615 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $465,747,000 after buying an additional 19,904 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 1.6% during the first quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 23,856 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,329,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its stake in CME Group by 5.9% in the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 82,768 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $21,958,000 after purchasing an additional 4,635 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in CME Group by 3.4% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 704,549 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $186,910,000 after buying an additional 22,917 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bowman & Co S.C. raised its stake in CME Group by 7.1% during the first quarter. Bowman & Co S.C. now owns 9,226 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,447,000 after buying an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

CME Group Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of CME traded down $0.66 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $274.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,635,928 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,184,401. The company has a market cap of $98.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a fifty day moving average of $271.45 and a 200 day moving average of $252.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.19. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.50 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on CME Group from $282.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays boosted their price objective on CME Group from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Raymond James raised CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $287.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $258.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.56, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total value of $81,951.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 24,767 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,765,601.39. This trade represents a 1.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 22,900 shares of company stock worth $6,147,935. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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.