Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Purchases 2,686 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 64,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,686 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $14,968,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 108.7% during the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 12,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,949,000 after purchasing an additional 6,453 shares in the last quarter. Unified Investment Management bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $503,000. Spire Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 37.4% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $548,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,169,999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $503,939,000 after purchasing an additional 343,498 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CME. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $269.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut shares of CME Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $256.80.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at $2,063,885.88. This trade represents a 15.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total transaction of $81,951.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 24,767 shares in the company, valued at $6,765,601.39. This represents a 1.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,400 shares of company stock worth $6,533,180 in the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CME Group Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of CME stock opened at $287.69 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $290.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $269.98 and its 200 day moving average is $251.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.75, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. The company’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.50 EPS. Research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.30%.

About CME Group

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.