Center for Financial Planning Inc. Has $524,000 Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Center for Financial Planning Inc. lifted its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 7.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. Center for Financial Planning Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $524,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CME. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, United Community Bank acquired a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on CME Group from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut shares of CME Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $258.20.

CME Group Stock Up 0.7%

CME opened at $273.99 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $274.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $255.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $192.11 and a twelve month high of $290.79. The firm has a market cap of $98.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.45.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.19. CME Group had a net margin of 57.71% and a return on equity of 14.03%. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.50 earnings per share. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 50.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Derek Sammann sold 4,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.61, for a total transaction of $1,304,836.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,336 shares in the company, valued at $2,339,164.96. This represents a 35.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Daniel G. Kaye sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.42, for a total transaction of $141,210.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,035,916.56. The trade was a 12.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,400 shares of company stock valued at $3,680,610 in the last quarter. 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.