Gradient Investments LLC Has $13.94 Million Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Gradient Investments LLC decreased its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 70,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,133 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $13,935,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CME. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in CME Group by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $782,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Lantz Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.1% in the first quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 4,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $982,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $631,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greystone Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC now owns 3,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $691,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.44, for a total transaction of $586,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,163 shares in the company, valued at $1,399,936.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.44, for a total transaction of $586,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,399,936.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Daniel R. Glickman sold 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.44, for a total transaction of $130,936.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,821,771.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,650 shares of company stock worth $928,776 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CME. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $187.00 target price (up previously from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. 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 report on Thursday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on CME Group from $235.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, 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 research note on Thursday, July 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $213.27.

CME Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:CME traded up $2.59 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $207.88. 1,115,669 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,947,617. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $198.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $207.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a market cap of $74.85 billion, a PE ratio of 23.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.27 and a beta of 0.52. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $223.80.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.03. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.82% and a net margin of 56.98%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.30 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 9.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 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.