NewEdge Advisors LLC Buys 2,745 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,118 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,745 shares during the quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $12,335,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its position in CME Group by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC raised its stake in CME Group by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 1,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $411,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. grew its position in CME Group by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $137,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $549,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 437 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $101,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $269.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley upgraded CME Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $301.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $269.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $247.47.

CME Group Price Performance

CME opened at $262.53 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $256.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $240.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.60 billion, a PE ratio of 27.15, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $273.42.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,686,980. This represents a 31.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. The trade was a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.