Rockland Trust Co. Acquires Shares of 1,766 CME Group Inc. $CME

Rockland Trust Co. bought a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,766 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $482,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CME. Caldwell Trust Co lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 116.3% in the 3rd quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 93 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA purchased a new position in CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Financial Consulate Inc. purchased a new position in CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. acquired a new stake in CME Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Corundum Trust Company INC acquired a new stake in CME Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Up 0.5%

CME Group stock opened at $296.94 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $303.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $282.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $248.53 and a 12 month high of $329.16. The stock has a market cap of $106.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.26.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 62.45% and a return on equity of 14.65%. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.52 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 10th. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 46.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on CME Group from $302.00 to $356.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Erste Group Bank raised CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research note on Friday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on CME Group from $266.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on CME Group from $201.00 to $209.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $304.06.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total value of $1,097,120.67. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 7,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,397,597.04. The trade was a 31.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $224,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,699 shares in the company, valued at $809,700. This represents a 21.70% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 8,539 shares of company stock valued at $2,713,821 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

About CME Group

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world’s largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company’s core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.