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

Sowell Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,440 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $382,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 56,810 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $15,071,000 after acquiring an additional 1,052 shares during the period. Fairvoy Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the 1st quarter valued at $847,000. Optas LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the 1st quarter valued at $216,000. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the 1st quarter valued at $320,000. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 10.3% in the 1st quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 4,451 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,181,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Dennis Suskind sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.28, for a total value of $271,280.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,915 shares of the company's stock, valued at $790,781.20. The trade was a 25.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Phyllis M. Lockett sold 1,060 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were 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 directly owns 3,108 shares in the company, valued at $863,651.04. This represents a 25.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,400 shares of company stock valued at $3,680,610 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on CME shares. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on CME Group from $282.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Erste Group Bank lowered CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target 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. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $287.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $258.20.

CME Group Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of CME opened at $273.99 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $98.74 billion, a PE ratio of 27.56, a PEG ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.45. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $192.11 and a 12 month high of $290.79. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $274.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $255.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.03% and a net margin of 57.71%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.50 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. CME Group's dividend 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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