Nearwater Capital Markets Ltd Makes New $12.77 Million Investment in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Nearwater Capital Markets Ltd bought a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 55,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $12,773,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CME. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 1,769 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $411,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. TFC Financial Management Inc. raised its position in shares of CME Group by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 592 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $137,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,362 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $549,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 437 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $101,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler increased their price target on CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on CME Group from $269.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group lifted their price target on CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Raymond James raised shares of CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $287.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $269.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $256.80.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 27,046 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,774,211.62. This trade represents a 12.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. The trade was a 15.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,134 shares of company stock valued at $6,087,434 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

CME Group Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of CME Group stock traded up $2.29 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $276.29. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,515,943 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,178,797. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.57, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $265.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $247.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $286.48.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued 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 business had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. CME Group's revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.50 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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 will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.