Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. Grows Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 37.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 638 shares during the quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $517,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norden Group LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the 1st quarter worth $274,000. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 4,592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $989,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 32.0% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 52,167 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,231,000 after purchasing an additional 12,653 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 27,774 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,994,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares during the period. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 55,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,932,706.13. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 13,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,877,504.39. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of CME Group 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 directly owns 55,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,932,706.13. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,221 shares of company stock valued at $3,351,895 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

NASDAQ CME opened at $223.61 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $80.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.51, a PEG ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $220.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $209.49. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $230.36.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.25 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.23 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. CME Group’s payout ratio is 48.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $219.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $222.73.

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.