Brighton Jones LLC Acquires New Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 1,206 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $320,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, United Community Bank acquired a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on CME. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Raymond James Financial 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. Oppenheimer boosted 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. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $258.20.

CME Group Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $269.70 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $273.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $254.82. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $290.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market cap of $97.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.13, a PEG ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.45.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.50 EPS. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $1.25 dividend. 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 (DPR) is 50.30%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Larry G. Gerdes sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.10, for a total transaction of $528,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 38,651 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,207,729.10. This represents a 4.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Phyllis M. Lockett sold 1,060 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.88, for a total transaction of $294,552.80. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $863,651.04. The trade was a 25.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,400 shares of company stock worth $3,680,610 in the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CME Group 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.