Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Purchases 6,281 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 83.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 13,843 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 6,281 shares during the quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $3,672,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 3.0% in the first quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,379 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $366,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 1,769 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $411,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 592 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $137,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 437 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $101,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on CME. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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. 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. Erste Group Bank cut shares of CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $258.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 390 shares of the company's 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 completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 6,708 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,861,470. This represents a 5.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Charles P. Carey sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.35, for a total transaction of $132,675.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,900 shares in the company, valued at $1,300,215. The trade was a 9.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,400 shares of company stock worth $3,680,610 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of CME stock traded up $1.31 on Thursday, reaching $270.96. 2,189,659 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,198,777. The company has a market capitalization of $97.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $290.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01. The business's 50 day moving average price is $272.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $253.75.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.50 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current 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 1.85%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 50.30%.

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.