Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT Lowers Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT lessened its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 8.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,225 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,525 shares during the quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT’s holdings in CME Group were worth $3,386,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Gold Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 66.1% in the second quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 515.2% in the second quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total value of $1,629,381.87. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,932,706.13. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other CME Group news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total transaction of $1,629,381.87. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,932,706.13. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Sunday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total transaction of $163,610.46. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at $2,877,504.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CME Group Stock Down 0.9 %

CME stock opened at $216.30 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $223.80. The company’s 50 day moving average is $207.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $207.54. The stock has a market cap of $77.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.61, a PEG ratio of 8.85 and a beta of 0.55.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.53 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 56.98% and a return on equity of 12.82%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.30 EPS. Research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on CME shares. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Bank of America cut shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $212.00 to $177.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $209.73.

CME Group Company Profile

CME Group Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates contract markets for the trading of futures and options on futures contracts worldwide. It offers futures and options products based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, agricultural commodities, energy, and metals, as well as fixed income and foreign currency trading services.