Navellier & Associates Inc. Purchases Shares of 10,775 CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Key Points

• Navellier & Associates Inc. has acquired 10,775 shares of CME Group Inc., valued at approximately $3,045,000, during the first quarter.
• CME Group recently reported earnings of $2.96 EPS, surpassing analysts’ expectations, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 10.4%.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $1.25 per share, yielding approximately 1.79% annually, with a payout ratio of 48.40%.

Navellier & Associates Inc. bought a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 10,775 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,045,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Heartland Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in CME Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $377,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 2,636 shares during the last quarter. OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in CME Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $367,000. Fulcrum Equity Management purchased a new position in CME Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $258,000. Finally, Aspire Growth Partners LLC purchased a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $548,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

CME Group Price Performance

CME traded up $2.37 during trading on Friday, reaching $279.55. The stock had a trading volume of 1,834,736 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,117,443. The stock has a market cap of $100.74 billion, a PE ratio of 27.06, a PEG ratio of 4.85 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $193.25 and a one year high of $290.79. The business has a 50-day moving average of $276.44 and a 200-day moving average of $262.25.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 58.48%. The firm's revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 48.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, insider Derek Sammann sold 4,650 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.61, for a total transaction of $1,304,836.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 8,336 shares in the company, valued at $2,339,164.96. This represents a 35.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, 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 shares were sold at an average price of $272.56, for a total transaction of $817,680.00. Following the sale, the director owned 5,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,471,824. The trade was a 35.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,400 shares of company stock valued at $3,152,410 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, July 13th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $261.93.

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.