2,216 Shares in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Acquired by Kesler Norman & Wride LLC

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC purchased a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 2,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $515,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 23.9% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 12,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,709,000 after purchasing an additional 2,370 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $335,000. Investment Management Corp of Ontario boosted its holdings in CME Group by 48.6% in the third quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 11,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,631,000 after acquiring an additional 3,900 shares in the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 33.3% in the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,645,000 after acquiring an additional 1,855 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Motley Fool Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 3.6% during the third quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 14,494 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,265,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. This represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total transaction of $997,872.48. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,774,211.62. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $262.54 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.15, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The business’s 50 day moving average is $251.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $236.71. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $267.91.

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

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup downgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America raised their target price on CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $241.53.

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.