JT Stratford LLC Decreases Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

22 May 2025, 11:20 by Teresa Graham · The Cerbat Gem

JT Stratford LLC cut its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME – Free Report) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 7,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 346 shares during the period. JT Stratford LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,831,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its holdings in CME Group by 570.6% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $30,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $269.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $256.80.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on CME

CME Group Stock Performance

CME opened at $281.74 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $101.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.14, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $286.48. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $267.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $248.16. 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 – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.19. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.50 earnings per share. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 50.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 21,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,686,980. This represents a 31.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total transaction of $997,872.48. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,774,211.62. The trade was a 12.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 27,884 shares of company stock worth $7,389,843. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CME Group Profile

(Free Report)