CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Bought by Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc.

Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $608,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 5,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,095,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. Harrell Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 22,628 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,765,000 after purchasing an additional 661 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $676,000. Finally, Chicago Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 28.6% in the fourth quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 1,454 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CME. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $187.00 price objective (up previously from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of CME Group from $195.00 to $193.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $212.64.

CME Group Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ CME traded down $1.72 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $197.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,712,369 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,958,286. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $199.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $207.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.01. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $223.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.41 and a beta of 0.52.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 56.98% and a return on equity of 12.82%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.30 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 9.8 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.44, for a total transaction of $586,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,399,936.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.44, for a total transaction of $586,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,399,936.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Daniel R. Glickman sold 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.44, for a total transaction of $130,936.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 14,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,821,771.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,290 shares of company stock worth $2,957,300 in the last 90 days. Corporate 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.