Ballentine Partners LLC Boosts Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Ballentine Partners LLC grew its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 6.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 351 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,195,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 83.0% in the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,643,000 after purchasing an additional 3,461 shares in the last quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company purchased a new stake in CME Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $828,000. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board grew its holdings in CME Group by 11.7% during the 1st quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 20,935 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,980,000 after buying an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC purchased a new position in CME Group during the first quarter worth $3,191,000. Finally, Aviance Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the first quarter worth $525,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on CME shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on CME Group from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. They set a “hold” rating and a $221.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $222.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 55,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,932,706.13. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 13,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,877,504.39. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 55,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,932,706.13. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME Group stock opened at $226.14 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $81.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.76 and a beta of 0.55. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $230.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $218.57 and its 200-day moving average is $208.81.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 56.98% and a return on equity of 12.82%. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.25 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were given a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.33%.

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.