CCLA Investment Management Raises Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

CCLA Investment Management raised its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 539,237 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,493 shares during the period. CCLA Investment Management owned approximately 0.15% of CME Group worth $105,396,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Gold Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of CME Group by 66.1% during the 2nd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 515.2% during the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $218.18 on Wednesday. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $223.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.82, a P/E/G ratio of 8.85 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $206.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $207.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.30 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CME. Bank of America downgraded CME Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $212.00 to $177.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on CME Group from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on CME Group from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $209.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 directly owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,877,504.39. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 directly owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,877,504.39. The sale 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 company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 55,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,932,706.13. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.