Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 53 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 53 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $595,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Naples Global Advisors LLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 2,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $436,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC bought a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth about $1,823,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth about $1,074,000. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in CME Group by 4.3% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,118,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $223,867,000 after purchasing an additional 46,021 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth about $27,986,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.91, for a total value of $8,436,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 67,455 shares in the company, valued at $14,226,934.05. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on CME shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Argus raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “sell” rating and set a $187.00 price objective (up from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $217.80.

CME Group Stock Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ CME opened at $211.84 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $175.73 and a 1-year high of $223.80. The company has a 50 day moving average of $213.64 and a 200-day moving average of $211.42. The company has a market cap of $76.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.10, a PEG ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 0.48.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.44 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.45% and a net margin of 56.84%. The firm had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.48 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.42 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 9.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 52.33%.

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.