Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC Buys Shares of 8,786 CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 8,786 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,331,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CME. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new stake in CME Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 122.2% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its position in 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 worth $30,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 612.5% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in CME Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard acquired 256 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $270.53 per share, with a total value of $69,255.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 258,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $69,849,763.88. This represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 390 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.50, for a total value of $108,225.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 6,708 shares in the company, valued at $1,861,470. This trade represents a 5.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 13,400 shares of company stock valued at $3,680,610. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ CME traded up $0.10 during trading on Thursday, reaching $275.74. The company had a trading volume of 688,936 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,192,489. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $193.17 and a 12-month high of $290.79. The stock has a market cap of $99.37 billion, a PE ratio of 27.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.44. The business's 50-day moving average is $276.73 and its 200 day moving average is $258.73. 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 (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.50 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 Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded CME Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. Erste Group Bank downgraded CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Bank of America upped 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. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine 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 $260.93.

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.