CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Acquired by CWA Asset Management Group LLC

CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 567.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,908 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $2,196,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Webster Bank N. A. boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 206.9% in the 2nd quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 89 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 84.3% during the second quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new stake in CME Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. purchased a new position in CME Group in the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new position in CME Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, Director William R. Shepard purchased 251 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $278.37 per share, with a total value of $69,870.87. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 258,710 shares in the company, valued at $72,017,102.70. This represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Harold Eugene Jr. Ford sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.53, for a total value of $263,530.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $287,511.23. This represents a 47.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of CME Group from $313.00 to $304.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 10th. UBS Group cut their price target on CME Group from $285.00 to $280.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on CME Group from $282.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on CME Group from $314.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on CME Group from $264.00 to $263.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $290.82.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $275.06 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $99.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.27. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $224.62 and a twelve month high of $290.79. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $273.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $272.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 58.84% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.68 EPS. On average, research 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th were issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 12th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.45%.

CME Group Company Profile

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.