First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Raises Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 23.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,238 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $2,623,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the first quarter worth $28,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted 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 acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 515.2% during the second quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its position in shares of CME Group by 62.2% in the third quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $312,062.88. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,275 shares in the company, valued at $1,652,298. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at $11,932,706.13. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $312,062.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,652,298. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 15,221 shares of company stock valued at $3,351,895. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on CME. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays raised their price target on CME Group from $219.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $222.73.

CME Group Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ:CME opened at $227.26 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.85, a P/E/G ratio of 7.76 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a fifty day moving average of $220.05 and a 200 day moving average of $209.23. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $230.36.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 56.98% and a return on equity of 12.82%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.25 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.04 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were given a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.