CME Group Inc. $CME Stock Position Boosted by Alta Capital Management LLC

Alta Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 213.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 47,666 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 32,478 shares during the quarter. CME Group comprises 0.9% of Alta Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Alta Capital Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $13,017,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Asset Dedication LLC grew its position in CME Group by 64.9% in the 4th quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 191.9% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 1,250.0% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anfield Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 197.4% during the 4th quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

CME stock opened at $305.12 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $257.17 and a one year high of $329.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $110.56 billion, a PE ratio of 26.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $297.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $288.46.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.25. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.80 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 12.26 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on CME shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn reduced their price objective on shares of CME Group from $340.00 to $316.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of CME Group from $356.00 to $349.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $313.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of CME Group from $362.00 to $353.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $305.29.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total transaction of $1,097,120.67. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 7,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,397,597.04. This represents a 31.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total transaction of $10,447,850.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,606,111.30. This represents a 38.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 42,791 shares of company stock valued at $12,937,271 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Company Profile

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world’s largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company’s core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.