CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Purchased by Journey Advisory Group LLC

Journey Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,536 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 394 shares during the quarter. Journey Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $2,429,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Second Half Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at $2,737,000. Naples Global Advisors LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 2,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $436,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth $1,823,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,074,000. Finally, Western Pacific Wealth Management LP grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 20.2% during the fourth quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $110,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $187.00 price target (up from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (down from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a report on Friday, April 5th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on CME Group from $198.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $217.80.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CME traded down $6.42 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $208.50. 2,877,258 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,767,624. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $175.73 and a twelve month high of $223.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $211.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.68 and a beta of 0.48.

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. The business had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.48 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 56.84% and a return on equity of 12.45%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.42 EPS. On average, analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 9.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.33%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 67,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,226,934.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.91, for a total value of $8,436,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 67,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,226,934.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Elizabeth A. Cook sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.52, for a total transaction of $211,520.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,241 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,858,336.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 50,640 shares of company stock worth $10,676,444. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.