WESPAC Advisors LLC Purchases New Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

WESPAC Advisors LLC acquired a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 3,850 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,021,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new position in CME Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 122.2% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 612.5% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on CME shares. Piper Sandler upped their price target on 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 target on CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $269.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on CME Group from $282.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $260.93.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other news, Director Phyllis M. Lockett sold 1,060 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.88, for a total transaction of $294,552.80. Following the sale, the director owned 3,108 shares in the company, valued at approximately $863,651.04. This represents a 25.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 390 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.50, for a total value of $108,225.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 6,708 shares in the company, valued at $1,861,470. The trade was a 5.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 13,400 shares of company stock valued at $3,680,610. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CME Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:CME traded down $0.11 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $275.08. The company had a trading volume of 1,531,570 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,184,968. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $276.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $258.98. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $193.25 and a one year high of $290.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.13 billion, a PE ratio of 27.67, a PEG ratio of 4.44 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

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 return on equity of 14.03% and a net margin of 57.71%. The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.50 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. CME Group's payout ratio is presently 50.30%.

About CME Group

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.