Praxis Capital Management LLC Buys Shares of 3,298 CME Group Inc. $CME

Praxis Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 3,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $901,000. CME Group comprises about 3.2% of Praxis Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 64.9% during the 4th quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 191.9% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 1,250.0% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Anfield Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 197.4% during the 4th quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $291.23 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $296.38 and a 200 day moving average of $289.12. The company has a market capitalization of $105.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.85, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.23. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $257.17 and a 1-year high of $329.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.CME Group’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.80 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 44.37%.

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 in the company, valued at $2,397,597.04. The trade was a 31.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.65, for a total value of $1,300,530.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 43,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,317,117.55. The trade was a 8.90% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 48,244 shares of company stock worth $14,598,037. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CME. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on CME Group from $362.00 to $353.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on CME Group from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Erste Group Bank upgraded CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on CME Group from $343.00 to $316.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $305.29.

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.