Valley National Advisers Inc. Buys 2,377 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 173.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,377 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $735,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gold Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in CME Group during the first quarter worth $28,000. Northwest Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the first quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of CME Group by 89.5% during the first quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CME. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays lifted their target price 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. Bank of America increased their price target on CME Group from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $213.27.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ CME traded up $2.59 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $207.88. 1,115,595 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,947,617. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.65, a P/E/G ratio of 6.27 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $223.80. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $198.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $207.04.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.03. CME Group had a net margin of 56.98% and a return on equity of 12.82%. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.30 EPS. CME Group’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 9.8 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.33%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.44, for a total transaction of $586,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,163 shares in the company, valued at $1,399,936.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.44, for a total transaction of $586,320.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,399,936.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel R. Glickman sold 650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.44, for a total transaction of $130,936.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,008 shares in the company, valued at $2,821,771.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,650 shares of company stock worth $928,776. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company 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.