Quadrant Capital Group LLC Purchases 101 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,094 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $719,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CME. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its holdings in CME Group by 570.6% in the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 188.4% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Trading Down 5.2 %

NASDAQ CME opened at $254.46 on Monday. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $273.42. The business’s fifty day moving average is $252.60 and its 200 day moving average is $237.46. 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 company has a market cap of $91.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53.

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 return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 51.71%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $2,600,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,686,980. The trade was a 31.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the sale, the insider now owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CME. Raymond James upgraded 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. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $269.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer raised their price target on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $241.53.

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.