Generali Investments Management Co LLC Acquires 2,361 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Generali Investments Management Co LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 48.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,242 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,361 shares during the period. Generali Investments Management Co LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,921,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Spire Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 37.4% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $307,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. lifted its stake in CME Group by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 1,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $237,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in CME Group by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 1,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 30.2% in the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 2,744 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $637,000 after acquiring an additional 636 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 129.5% in the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, Director Daniel G. Kaye sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.42, for a total transaction of $141,210.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,668 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,916.56. The trade was a 12.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Derek Sammann sold 4,650 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.61, for a total value of $1,304,836.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 8,336 shares in the company, valued at $2,339,164.96. This trade represents a 35.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 22,900 shares of company stock valued at $6,147,935 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Stock Down 1.1%

CME Group stock opened at $274.90 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $271.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $252.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $290.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.43, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.50 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 50.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James upgraded shares of CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $269.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group increased their price target on CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $258.20.

CME Group Company Profile

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.