CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Acquired by Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI boosted its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 18.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 58,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,163 shares during the period. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI’s holdings in CME Group were worth $15,912,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jessup Wealth Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Jessup Wealth Management Inc now owns 7,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,197,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in CME Group by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 5,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,453,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 1,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $392,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 2.0% in the second quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $538,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its stake in CME Group by 0.8% during the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 5,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,384,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $280.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on CME Group from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on CME Group from $307.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut 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 note on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of CME Group from $320.00 to $319.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $292.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, Director William R. Shepard acquired 251 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $278.37 per share, for a total transaction of $69,870.87. Following the acquisition, the director owned 258,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $72,017,102.70. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Harold Eugene Jr. Ford sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.53, for a total transaction of $263,530.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $287,511.23. The trade was a 47.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

CME stock opened at $282.73 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $101.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.27. The business’s 50-day moving average is $274.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $271.95. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $232.32 and a 1 year high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 58.84%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.68 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th were issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 12th. CME Group’s payout ratio is 48.45%.

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.