861 Shares in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Bought by World Equity Group Inc.

World Equity Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 861 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $228,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CME. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its stake in CME Group by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, United Community Bank acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Derek Sammann sold 4,650 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.61, for a total transaction of $1,304,836.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,336 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,339,164.96. This trade represents a 35.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 dated Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.35, for a total value of $132,675.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,300,215. The trade was a 9.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 13,400 shares of company stock worth $3,680,610. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on CME Group from $282.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Barclays lifted their price target on CME Group from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $258.20.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $273.99 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.56, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a 50-day moving average of $274.17 and a 200-day moving average of $255.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $192.11 and a fifty-two week high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share 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 return on equity of 14.03% and a net margin of 57.71%. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.50 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 50.30%.

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.