Simplicity Wealth LLC Has $240,000 Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Simplicity Wealth LLC lowered its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 24.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 292 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $240,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 108.7% during the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 12,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,949,000 after buying an additional 6,453 shares during the last quarter. Unified Investment Management bought a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $503,000. Aspire Growth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $548,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in 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 worth $503,939,000 after acquiring an additional 343,498 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sentinel Trust Co. LBA bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $368,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on CME shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $282.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $258.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Dennis Suskind sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.28, for a total value of $271,280.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $790,781.20. This trade represents a 25.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles P. Carey sold 500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.35, for a total transaction of $132,675.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,900 shares in the company, valued at $1,300,215. This trade represents a 9.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,400 shares of company stock worth $3,680,610 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Up 0.5%

CME opened at $270.96 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.02, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $290.79. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $272.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $254.03.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion during 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.50 EPS. Analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.