Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC Increases Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 13.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the period. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $682,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its position in CME Group by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 182,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,430,000 after acquiring an additional 2,735 shares during the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 35.4% during the 4th quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 51,482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,958,000 after purchasing an additional 13,454 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 4,216.2% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 922,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $214,301,000 after purchasing an additional 901,425 shares in the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 141.9% during the 4th quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 2,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $679,000 after purchasing an additional 1,716 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Martingale Asset Management L P lifted its stake in CME Group by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 12,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,788,000 after buying an additional 973 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $2,600,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,873 shares in the company, valued at $5,686,980. This trade represents a 31.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

CME stock opened at $261.54 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $94.25 billion, a PE ratio of 27.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $255.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $239.10. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $273.42.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. As a group, research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 51.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on CME shares. Citigroup cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of CME Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $301.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Erste Group Bank raised shares of CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $247.47.

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.