National Pension Service Buys 17,744 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

National Pension Service grew its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 681,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 17,744 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in CME Group were worth $143,501,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CME. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in CME Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 966.7% during the fourth 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 period. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Atticus Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, GoalVest Advisory LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 1,233.3% during the 4th quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.91, for a total transaction of $8,436,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 67,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,226,934.05. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CME Group Stock Up 1.7 %

CME stock traded up $3.50 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $211.84. 1,708,217 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,786,597. The firm has a market cap of $76.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.10, a P/E/G ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 0.48. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $175.73 and a 1-year high of $223.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $213.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $211.42.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm’s revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.42 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 9.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “sell” rating and set a $187.00 price target (up from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on CME Group from $198.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays upped their price objective on CME Group from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 target price (down from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $217.80.

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.