Keyes Stange & Wooten Wealth Management LLC Reduces Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Keyes Stange & Wooten Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 52 shares during the period. CME Group makes up 0.5% of Keyes Stange & Wooten Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Keyes Stange & Wooten Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $820,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 108.7% in the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 12,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,949,000 after buying an additional 6,453 shares during the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. purchased a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at $6,144,000. Unified Investment Management purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter worth about $503,000. Spire Wealth Management increased its position in shares of CME Group by 37.4% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $307,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the period. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc lifted its holdings in CME Group by 19.3% in the fourth quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 326,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,730,000 after buying an additional 52,862 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at $2,063,885.88. The trade was a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,686,980. The trade was a 31.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $261.54 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $94.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.05, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $255.22 and its 200 day moving average is $239.10. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $273.42.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on CME shares. Oppenheimer raised their target price on CME Group from $269.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Raymond James upgraded CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $269.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.