Nan Shan Life Insurance Co. Ltd. Acquires New Shares in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Nan Shan Life Insurance Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 53,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $12,517,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 50.0% in the fourth 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 acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME opened at $268.34 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $96.70 billion, a PE ratio of 27.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $265.08 and a 200-day moving average of $246.25. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $286.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. CME Group’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 50.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on CME shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $269.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Bank of America boosted their target price on CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Raymond James raised 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 note on Monday, March 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $256.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Derek Sammann sold 4,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 8,336 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,339,164.96. This represents a 35.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total value of $997,872.48. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 27,046 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,774,211.62. This trade represents a 12.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,726 shares of company stock valued at $8,975,813 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.