CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by Summit Investment Advisors Inc.

Summit Investment Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 136 shares during the period. Summit Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $815,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its holdings in CME Group by 570.6% during the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 50.0% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 120.3% in the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Trading Up 0.4 %

CME Group stock opened at $262.53 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $273.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.15, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $256.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $240.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. Sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.71%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at $2,063,885.88. This represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $269.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Raymond James raised CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. Erste Group Bank raised CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of CME Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $301.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $247.47.

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.