American International Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

American International Group Inc. boosted its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 113,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 832 shares during the quarter. American International Group Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $23,850,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gold Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Northwest Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 966.7% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Atticus Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CME. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on CME Group from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “sell” rating and issued a $187.00 price target (up from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 target price (down from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a report on Friday, April 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $217.80.

CME Group Price Performance

CME Group stock traded up $1.49 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $197.13. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,671,739 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,859,364. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $177.97 and a 12 month high of $223.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a market capitalization of $70.98 billion, a PE ratio of 22.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 0.52. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $208.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $210.00.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 9.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Elizabeth A. Cook sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.52, for a total value of $211,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,241 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,858,336.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Elizabeth A. Cook sold 1,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.52, for a total transaction of $211,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,241 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,858,336.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, 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 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.