Parvin Asset Management LLC Takes $226,000 Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 975 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $226,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC raised its stake in CME Group by 108.7% in the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 12,390 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,949,000 after purchasing an additional 6,453 shares in the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. bought a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,144,000. Unified Investment Management bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $503,000. Spire Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 37.4% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,320 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc increased its stake in CME Group by 19.3% in the fourth quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 326,098 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $75,730,000 after acquiring an additional 52,862 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ CME traded up $3.34 during trading on Friday, reaching $280.45. The company had a trading volume of 2,245,582 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,162,878. The stock has a market cap of $101.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.00, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. The company's fifty day moving average price is $261.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $243.61. 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 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $282.10.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.50 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CME. Citigroup downgraded CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James upgraded CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $287.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $256.80.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Dennis Suskind sold 1,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.28, for a total transaction of $271,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,915 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $790,781.20. This trade represents a 25.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 30,076 shares of company stock worth $7,670,976 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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.