Alta Capital Management LLC Purchases New Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

Alta Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 15,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,104,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.5% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,176,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,695,313,000 after acquiring an additional 532,549 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,178,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,524,271,000 after purchasing an additional 319,899 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in CME Group during the 2nd quarter worth $1,571,447,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 2.0% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,682,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,289,910,000 after buying an additional 92,925 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of CME Group by 6.6% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,833,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,056,476,000 after buying an additional 238,522 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $293.07 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $105.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $275.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $272.52. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $238.12 and a 1 year high of $296.16.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th were given a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 12th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 48.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard purchased 251 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $278.37 per share, with a total value of $69,870.87. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 258,710 shares in the company, valued at approximately $72,017,102.70. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total value of $6,738,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 65,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,737,468.20. This represents a 27.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on CME shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $264.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $307.00 to $311.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of CME Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on CME Group from $310.00 to $318.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on CME Group from $201.00 to $209.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $292.18.

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.