American National Bank & Trust Co. VA Purchases New Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

American National Bank & Trust Co. VA purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 2,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $524,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gold Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Northwest Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 966.7% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME traded down $1.02 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $196.06. 2,237,934 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,471,441. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $204.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $208.32. The company has a market cap of $70.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.20 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $180.11 and a 12-month high of $223.80.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.45% and a net margin of 56.84%. The company had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 9.75 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.33%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.91, for a total transaction of $8,436,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 67,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,226,934.05. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other CME Group news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 7,140 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.35, for a total transaction of $1,501,899.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 29,256 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,153,999.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.91, for a total value of $8,436,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 67,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,226,934.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 54,290 shares of company stock valued at $11,393,700 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America boosted their price objective on CME Group from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $226.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays boosted their price objective on CME Group from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 price target (down from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $187.00 price target (up from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $215.90.

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.