Souders Financial Advisors Has $1.27 Million Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Souders Financial Advisors reduced its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,445 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 203 shares during the quarter. Souders Financial Advisors’ holdings in CME Group were worth $1,267,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the first quarter worth $28,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new position in CME Group in the second quarter valued at about $36,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the first quarter valued at about $41,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CME has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America cut CME Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $212.00 to $177.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on CME Group from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on CME Group in a research report on Friday. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $235.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $212.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $220.65 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $210.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $207.42. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $223.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.74 and a beta of 0.55.

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

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.33%.

About CME Group

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.