Dearborn Partners LLC Purchases 610 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Dearborn Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 18.6% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,893 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 610 shares during the quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $838,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gold Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Northwest Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 966.7% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded CME Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $206.00 to $187.00 in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $187.00 price target (up previously from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (down previously from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $226.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $215.82.

CME Group Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of CME traded up $0.27 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $201.73. 561,876 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,962,224. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $186.11 and a 12-month high of $223.80. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $201.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $207.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a market cap of $72.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.86, a P/E/G ratio of 5.33 and a beta of 0.52.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.45% and a net margin of 56.84%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.42 EPS. Research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 9.77 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. CME Group’s payout ratio is 52.33%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.44, for a total transaction of $586,320.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,399,936.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.44, for a total value of $586,320.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,399,936.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel R. Glickman sold 650 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.44, for a total transaction of $130,936.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,821,771.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 54,290 shares of company stock valued at $11,393,700. 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.