CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Acquired by M&T Bank Corp

M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 10.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 96,069 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,968 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in CME Group were worth $21,198,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $313,000. &PARTNERS purchased a new stake in CME Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $393,000. LRI Investments LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 1,540.6% during the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 493 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the second quarter worth $326,000. Finally, Clear Creek Financial Management LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 9.1% in the second quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 2,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $446,000 after buying an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $238.53 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $230.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $214.98. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $249.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company has a market capitalization of $85.96 billion, a PE ratio of 25.08, a P/E/G ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.25 earnings per share. CME Group’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a dividend of $5.80 per share. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. CME Group’s payout ratio is 48.37%.

CME Group declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays raised their target price on CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $229.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total value of $89,168.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. This represents a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.64, for a total transaction of $1,019,880.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 27,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,131,291.92. This trade represents a 14.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 7,274 shares of company stock worth $1,648,071. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.