Wealthfront Advisers LLC Increases Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 14.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,895 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 6,418 shares during the quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $13,767,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 29.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 86,941 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $20,190,000 after acquiring an additional 19,533 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $268,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 67,357 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $15,642,000 after purchasing an additional 3,644 shares in the last quarter. Choate Investment Advisors increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Choate Investment Advisors now owns 1,418 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 93,568 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $21,731,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $269.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Citigroup upped their price objective on CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Sunday. Bank of America upped their price target on CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $282.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $261.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Daniel G. Kaye sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.42, for a total transaction of $141,210.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,668 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,916.56. This represents a 12.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Charles P. Carey sold 500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.35, for a total value of $132,675.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 4,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 have sold 13,400 shares of company stock worth $3,680,610 in the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CME Group Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of CME Group stock traded up $1.51 during trading on Thursday, reaching $279.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,083,825 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,173,718. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $193.25 and a 1-year high of $290.79. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $276.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $260.04. 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 cap of $100.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.07, a P/E/G ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 0.44.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion during 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 company's revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. 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.