Sone Capital Management LLC Acquires Shares of 34,661 CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Sone Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 34,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,049,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CME. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 1,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $411,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $137,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $549,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in CME Group by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 437 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $101,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,063,885.88. This trade represents a 15.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,873 shares in the company, 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 23,134 shares of company stock worth $6,087,434. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CME Group Price Performance

CME opened at $276.29 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $99.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.57, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. 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 50-day moving average price of $265.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $247.33. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $286.48.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 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 company had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.50 EPS. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $269.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. UBS Group raised their target price on CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $269.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $256.80.

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.