21,641 Shares in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Acquired by Woodline Partners LP

Woodline Partners LP purchased a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 21,641 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,026,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,243,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,952,273,000 after buying an additional 326,623 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,389,442 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,946,717,000 after purchasing an additional 104,697 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 89.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,280,785 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,923,047,000 after buying an additional 3,921,278 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth about $1,107,389,000. Finally, FIL Ltd lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 4,081,391 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $947,821,000 after buying an additional 61,908 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the subject of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $256.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total value of $81,951.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 24,767 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,765,601.39. This represents a 1.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,063,885.88. This represents a 15.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 24,400 shares of company stock worth $6,533,180. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME traded down $0.89 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $285.09. 376,481 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,180,779. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $287.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a market cap of $102.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.45, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. The business's fifty day moving average price is $269.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $250.25.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.19. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.50 EPS. CME Group's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Shareholders 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 1.75%. CME Group's payout ratio is currently 50.30%.

CME Group 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.