CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Bought by Optimum Investment Advisors

Optimum Investment Advisors grew its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 30.0% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 650 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors’ holdings in CME Group were worth $172,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CME. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC grew its position in CME Group by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,379 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $366,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 1,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $356,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in CME Group by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,522 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $934,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Berry Wealth Group LP raised its position in shares of CME Group by 0.4% during the first quarter. Berry Wealth Group LP now owns 13,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,598,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Larry G. Gerdes sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.10, for a total transaction of $528,200.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 38,651 shares in the company, valued at $10,207,729.10. The trade was a 4.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dennis Suskind sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.28, for a total transaction of $271,280.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,915 shares in the company, valued at $790,781.20. This represents a 25.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,400 shares of company stock worth $3,680,610 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of CME stock opened at $275.63 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $276.76 and a 200-day moving average of $258.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $193.17 and a 12-month high of $290.79. The firm has a market cap of $99.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.73, a PEG ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.44.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly 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. CME Group had a net margin of 57.71% and a return on equity of 14.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.50 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were given a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 50.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $282.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Citigroup increased their price target on CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Barclays increased their price objective on CME Group from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler raised their price target on CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $259.87.

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.