CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Acquired by New Age Alpha Advisors LLC

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 50.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $30,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CME. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $1,107,389,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth $871,063,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in CME Group by 70.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $544,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,119 shares during the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 69.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,435,823 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $565,671,000 after purchasing an additional 996,498 shares during the period. Finally, Egerton Capital UK LLP purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth about $223,967,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total value 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 represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,873 shares in the company, valued at $5,686,980. This trade represents a 31.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CME. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Raymond James upgraded CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $241.53.

CME Group Stock Down 5.2 %

CME opened at $254.46 on Friday. 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 twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $273.42. The company has a market cap of $91.70 billion, a PE ratio of 26.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $252.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $237.18.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. Sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $1.25 dividend. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.71%.

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.