Townsend & Associates Inc Acquires 27,041 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Townsend & Associates Inc grew its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 63.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 69,948 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,041 shares during the period. CME Group comprises 1.8% of Townsend & Associates Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Townsend & Associates Inc’s holdings in CME Group were worth $14,288,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CME. National Pension Service lifted its stake in CME Group by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 681,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $143,501,000 after purchasing an additional 17,744 shares during the last quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 28.6% during the fourth quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 39,191 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,254,000 after purchasing an additional 8,717 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 67,565 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,229,000 after purchasing an additional 4,874 shares during the last quarter. Hyman Charles D acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $243,000. Finally, Gryphon Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $547,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Up 0.6 %

CME traded up $1.27 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $213.11. 849,556 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,775,730. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $175.73 and a one year high of $223.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $213.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $211.42. The company has a market cap of $76.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 0.48.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.44 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 56.84% and a return on equity of 12.45%. The firm had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.42 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 9.72 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The shares were 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 owns 67,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,226,934.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on CME shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $187.00 price target (up previously from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Argus raised their price objective on CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (down from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $217.80.

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.