NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC Acquires 1,570 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 14.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,570 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $3,374,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, United Community Bank acquired a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.35, for a total value of $132,675.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,300,215. The trade was a 9.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total value of $81,951.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 24,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,765,601.39. This represents a 1.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,400 shares of company stock valued at $3,680,610 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Down 0.5%

CME opened at $269.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $272.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $254.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.87, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.19. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. The firm 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 business posted $2.50 EPS. CME Group’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America upped their target price on CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Erste Group Bank lowered CME Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. UBS Group raised their price objective on CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Raymond James upgraded CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on CME Group from $282.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $258.20.

About CME Group

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.