National Bank of Canada FI Buys 58,955 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 30.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 249,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 58,955 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 0.07% of CME Group worth $48,849,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Gold Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Northwest Financial Advisors acquired a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the first quarter valued at $28,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 1st quarter valued at $41,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America downgraded shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $212.00 to $177.00 in a research note on Tuesday. 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a 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, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $209.73.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $219.38 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $223.80. The company has a market capitalization of $78.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.96, a PEG ratio of 6.51 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $203.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $207.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.53 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.82% and a net margin of 56.98%. The business’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.30 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 9.89 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 52.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total value of $1,629,381.87. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at $11,932,706.13. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other CME Group news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total value of $1,629,381.87. Following the completion of 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 7,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,399,936.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.