Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Acquires 10,302 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 112,259 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,302 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $24,770,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pullen Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 1.8% during the third quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 7,229 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,595,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its position in CME Group by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,251 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Hamlin Capital Management LLC increased its position in CME Group by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC now owns 744,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $164,316,000 after purchasing an additional 103,959 shares during the period. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 36,171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,981,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smith Salley Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management now owns 8,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,771,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Sunday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total transaction of $163,610.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,877,504.39. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the business’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 owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at $11,932,706.13. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total value of $163,610.46. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $222.73.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $228.12 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $219.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $208.98. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $230.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.14 billion, a PE ratio of 25.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.76 and a beta of 0.55.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 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 $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.33%.

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.