Alaethes Wealth LLC Raises Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Alaethes Wealth LLC increased its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,349 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the quarter. Alaethes Wealth LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,641,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of CME Group by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $782,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Lantz Financial LLC increased its position in CME Group by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 4,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $982,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich now owns 7,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greystone Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC now owns 3,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $691,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Down 0.7 %

CME opened at $213.16 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $223.80. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $207.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $207.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a market cap of $76.75 billion, a PE ratio of 24.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.85 and a beta of 0.55.

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

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 52.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America lowered shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $212.00 to $177.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays raised their price objective on CME Group from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $209.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group 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 directly owns 13,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,877,504.39. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other CME Group news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total value of $1,629,381.87. Following the sale, the director now owns 55,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,932,706.13. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 company insiders.

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.