CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Holdings Lifted by Stifel Financial Corp

Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 78,566 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,479 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp's holdings in CME Group were worth $18,248,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its position in CME Group by 570.6% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 120.3% in the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on CME shares. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. 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. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on CME Group from $269.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $269.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $256.80.

CME Group Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ CME traded up $3.20 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $275.56. 911,670 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,153,230. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $276.39. The business's fifty day moving average price is $259.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $242.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.30 billion, a PE ratio of 28.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.50 EPS. Analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders 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 1.81%. This is an increase from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is 50.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 21,873 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,686,980. This represents a 31.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,076 shares of company stock valued at $7,399,696 in the last ninety days. Corporate 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.