Keeley Teton Advisors LLC Boosts Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Keeley Teton Advisors LLC increased its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 10.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the quarter. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $975,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew 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 worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 120.3% during the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CME shares. Raymond James raised shares of CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Barclays boosted their target price on CME Group from $263.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on CME Group from $269.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of CME Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $301.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $247.47.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total value of $997,872.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 27,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,774,211.62. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $2,888,378.64. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $261.39 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $94.19 billion, a PE ratio of 27.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $256.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $239.87. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $273.42.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $1.25 dividend. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

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.