1,170 Shares in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Purchased by First Affirmative Financial Network

First Affirmative Financial Network bought a new stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,170 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in CME Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Power Corp of Canada acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Silicon Valley Capital Partners purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC purchased a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.69% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.95, for a total value of $6,118,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 65,545 shares in the company, valued at $13,367,902.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other CME Group news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 10,102 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.68, for a total value of $2,007,065.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,534 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,463,855.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 30,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Friday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.95, for a total transaction of $6,118,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 65,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,367,902.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 58,391 shares of company stock worth $11,905,049 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

CME stock opened at $206.82 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $199.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $189.71. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $166.54 and a 12-month high of $209.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market capitalization of $74.40 billion, a PE ratio of 25.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.41.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The financial services provider reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.10. CME Group had a net margin of 56.88% and a return on equity of 11.30%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.97 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 9.02 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 8th will be given a $1.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 7th. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com initiated coverage on CME Group in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $169.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 27th. Bank of America upgraded shares of CME Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $167.00 to $204.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 6th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on CME Group from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $211.00.

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.