Magnetar Financial LLC Purchases 14,234 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Magnetar Financial LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 149.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 23,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,234 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $4,671,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bluefin Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,891,000. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 81.4% during the first quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 44,534 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,588,000 after purchasing an additional 19,985 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 229.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 292,597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,618,000 after purchasing an additional 203,769 shares during the last quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 66.5% during the first quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 45,093 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,708,000 after purchasing an additional 18,017 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 21.2% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 48,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,477,000 after acquiring an additional 8,443 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $213.16 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $76.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.25, a P/E/G ratio of 8.85 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a fifty day moving average of $207.86 and a 200 day moving average of $207.36. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $223.80.

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

CME Group Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CME. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective 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. Bank of America lowered shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $212.00 to $177.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $209.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other CME Group news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Sunday, September 15th. The shares were 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group 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.