Certuity LLC Makes New $202,000 Investment in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Certuity LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 115.5% during the fourth quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 5,294 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,115,000 after acquiring an additional 2,837 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC now owns 95,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,092,000 after acquiring an additional 1,244 shares in the last quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $1,144,000. Stonebrook Private Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $2,498,000. Finally, PGGM Investments purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $273,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $207.48 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $214.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $211.64. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $175.73 and a 12-month high of $223.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.24 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.48 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.45% and a net margin of 56.84%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.42 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 9.72 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. This is a positive change 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 2.22%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.33%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 67,455 shares in the company, valued at $14,226,934.05. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on CME Group from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $187.00 target price (up previously from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Bank of America increased their target price on CME Group from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on CME Group from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $217.80.

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.