Sunbelt Securities Inc. Buys 72 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 6.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 72 shares during the quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $246,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Brookstone Capital Management raised its position in shares of CME Group by 12.2% in the 2nd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 30,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,156,000 after purchasing an additional 3,325 shares during the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 58.4% in the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 613,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $135,441,000 after buying an additional 226,306 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 40.8% in the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,742 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,112,000 after buying an additional 3,112 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 149.4% in the second quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 23,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,671,000 after buying an additional 14,234 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 18.3% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,826,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $403,017,000 after buying an additional 283,171 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,877,504.39. The trade was a 5.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total value of $226,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,403,279.44. The trade was a 8.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,028 shares of company stock worth $1,811,681. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CME Group Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of CME stock opened at $237.19 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $249.02. The stock has a market cap of $85.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.94, a P/E/G ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $229.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $213.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. CME Group’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.25 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a $5.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the topic of several analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen started coverage on CME Group in a report on Thursday, September 26th. They set a “hold” rating and a $221.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Four equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $226.20.

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.