Aventura Private Wealth LLC Buys Shares of 2,012 CME Group Inc. $CME

Aventura Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 2,012 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $549,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,660,000 after buying an additional 1,037 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in CME Group by 3.6% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 41,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,474,000 after purchasing an additional 1,434 shares during the period. Prudential PLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 142.3% in the second quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 46,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,833,000 after purchasing an additional 27,343 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its position in CME Group by 1.7% during the second quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 654,545 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $180,000 after purchasing an additional 11,154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its position in CME Group by 6.2% during the second quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $397,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, Director Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $224,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $809,700. This trade represents a 21.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director William R. Shepard purchased 251 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $278.37 per share, for a total transaction of $69,870.87. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 258,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $72,017,102.70. This represents a 0.10% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,539 shares of company stock worth $2,713,821. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CME Group Trading Down 1.1%

CME Group stock opened at $307.32 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $248.53 and a 1 year high of $329.16. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $300.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $280.42. The firm has a market cap of $110.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.65% and a net margin of 62.45%.CME Group’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.52 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on CME Group from $319.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on CME Group from $302.00 to $356.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on CME Group from $305.00 to $328.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on CME Group from $311.00 to $310.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $262.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $304.06.

Key CME Group News

Here are the key news stories impacting CME Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: CME raised its quarterly dividend to $1.30 (annualized $5.20), a payout increase that supports yield-focused holders and signals confidence in cash generation. See company summary. MarketBeat: CME summary
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst actions are mixed — several firms have raised price targets and ratings (Jefferies, Weiss, Erste), while others remain cautious or underweight (JPMorgan, Goldman). The consensus view is close to a “Hold” with a median target near the current price, producing offsetting pressure on the stock. See analyst roundup. MarketBeat: analyst notes
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest notices published this week show zero shares/days-to-cover, which appears to be a data error (NaN/inconsistent reporting) and should not be treated as a meaningful change in market sentiment. No reliable short-squeeze signal. (No credible link — data feed report)
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional ownership remains high and activity is mixed: large buy and sell moves by different funds have been reported in recent filings, so institutional flow is not clearly one-directional. MarketBeat: institutional activity
• Negative Sentiment: Senior management insider selling: General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares (around $1.1M) on March 17, reducing his holding by ~31%. Multiple recent insider sales by executives have been highlighted by data aggregators, which can weigh on sentiment even if sales are routine or for diversification. InsiderTrades: Marcus sale

CME Group Company Profile

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world’s largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company’s core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.