Sawgrass Asset Management LLC Purchases 23,824 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 2,620.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,733 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 23,824 shares during the period. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $6,561,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CME. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Banque Transatlantique SA bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, United Community Bank bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, insider Derek Sammann sold 4,650 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.61, for a total value of $1,304,836.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 8,336 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,339,164.96. The trade was a 35.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Phyllis M. Lockett sold 1,060 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.88, for a total value of $294,552.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,108 shares in the company, valued at approximately $863,651.04. This represents a 25.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,400 shares of company stock worth $3,680,610 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CME has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James Financial raised CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $287.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on CME Group from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $258.20.

CME Group Trading Up 0.7%

NASDAQ CME opened at $273.99 on Monday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $274.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $255.58. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $192.11 and a twelve month high of $290.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market capitalization of $98.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.56, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.45.

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, beating 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 business had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.50 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.82%. CME Group's payout ratio is 50.30%.

CME Group Company 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.

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