Atomi Financial Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 59.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,778 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,032 shares during the quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $613,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Groupama Asset Managment bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,282,000. Bluefin Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $2,891,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its stake in CME Group by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 714,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $150,381,000 after acquiring an additional 3,601 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd raised its position in CME Group by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 4,269,327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $899,120,000 after purchasing an additional 29,398 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GLOBALT Investments LLC GA bought a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth about $1,222,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME Group stock opened at $221.25 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $226.78. 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 capitalization of $79.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.17, a PEG ratio of 8.74 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $213.67 and its 200 day moving average is $207.83.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.30 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were issued a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.33%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,932,706.13. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total transaction 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 $2,877,504.39. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,932,706.13. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective 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. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on CME Group from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $217.71.

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.