Crestline Management LP Purchases New Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Crestline Management LP purchased a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 6,464 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,501,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CME. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its stake in CME Group by 570.6% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its stake in CME Group by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Erste Group Bank upgraded CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $256.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Dennis Suskind sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.28, for a total value of $271,280.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,915 shares in the company, valued at $790,781.20. This trade represents a 25.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Derek Sammann sold 4,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.61, for a total transaction of $1,304,836.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 8,336 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,339,164.96. This trade represents a 35.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 34,726 shares of company stock worth $8,975,813 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $282.11 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $286.48. The company has a market capitalization of $101.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.17, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $263.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $245.14.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.19. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.50 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.30%.

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.