Demars Financial Group LLC Has $162.03 Million Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Demars Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 15.8% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 610,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 83,543 shares during the period. CME Group accounts for approximately 0.5% of Demars Financial Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Demars Financial Group LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $162,027,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CME. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its position in CME Group by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, United Community Bank acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on CME shares. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $282.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Raymond James upgraded shares of CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, March 10th. 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. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of CME Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $258.20.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ CME opened at $267.51 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $96.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.66, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $290.79. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $272.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $254.72. 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 (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.50 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.56, for a total transaction of $817,680.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,471,824. This represents a 35.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel G. Kaye sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.42, for a total transaction of $141,210.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,668 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,916.56. This trade represents a 12.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 13,400 shares of company stock valued at $3,680,610. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by 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.