American Money Management LLC Purchases New Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

American Money Management LLC purchased a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 778 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CME. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC raised its position in CME Group by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,379 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $366,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 4.0% in the first quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 1,106 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $293,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 5,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,546,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 1,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Koshinski Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,522 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $934,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

CME Group stock opened at $273.92 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market capitalization of $98.72 billion, a PE ratio of 26.52, a P/E/G ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 0.44. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $204.16 and a 12 month high of $290.79. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $275.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $266.60.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.05. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 58.48%. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.56 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard bought 256 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 25th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $270.53 per share, with a total value of $69,255.68. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 258,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,849,763.88. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Daniel G. Kaye sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.42, for a total value of $141,210.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,035,916.56. This represents a 12.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,450 shares of company stock valued at $676,663 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays set a $298.00 target price on CME Group and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $261.93.

CME Group 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.