Tidal Investments LLC Acquires 5,980 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 8.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 79,677 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 5,980 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $18,503,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its position in CME Group by 570.6% in the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $269.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of CME Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Raymond James raised 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $256.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total transaction of $997,872.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 27,046 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,774,211.62. This represents a 12.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Derek Sammann sold 4,650 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on 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 now owns 8,336 shares in the company, valued at $2,339,164.96. The trade was a 35.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 27,884 shares of company stock valued at $7,389,843. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

CME Group Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of CME Group stock traded up $0.26 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $282.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,783,281 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,181,472. The company has a market capitalization of $101.62 billion, a PE ratio of 29.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $267.11 and a 200 day moving average of $248.16. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $286.48.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.50 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be given 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 1.77%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.