Putney Financial Group LLC Makes New Investment in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 1,675 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $389,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 570.6% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 50.0% during the fourth 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. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total transaction of $81,951.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,063,885.88. The trade was a 15.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,400 shares of company stock worth $6,533,180 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CME shares. 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target 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. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $256.80.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME Group stock traded up $1.46 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $287.33. 591,657 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,179,012. The firm has a market capitalization of $103.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a 50 day moving average of $269.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $250.66. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $287.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

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

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. CME Group's payout ratio is 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.