Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC Boosts Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 31,020 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 538 shares during the period. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $7,204,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,686,980. This represents a 31.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CME Group Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $254.13 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $91.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.28, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $273.42. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $254.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $238.51. 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 (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.97%. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CME. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Raymond James raised shares of CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Citigroup cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $246.80.

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.