CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Purchased by Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 11.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,001 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $2,030,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in CME Group in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Atticus Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, GoalVest Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 1,233.3% in the 4th quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, 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 available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on CME Group from $198.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Argus lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (down from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $217.80.

CME Group Price Performance

CME traded up $0.17 during trading on Friday, reaching $207.65. The stock had a trading volume of 2,065,362 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,765,130. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $175.73 and a 1-year high of $223.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $214.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $211.56. 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 (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 9.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.33%.

CME Group Company 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.