Alethea Capital Management LLC Invests $412,000 in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Alethea Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,868 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $412,000. CME Group comprises about 0.3% of Alethea Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new stake in CME Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in 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. Asset Dedication LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 515.2% in the 2nd 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. raised its stake 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.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME opened at $238.00 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $225.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $211.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $238.97. The stock has a market cap of $85.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.03, a PEG ratio of 5.49 and a beta of 0.55.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.25 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 48.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on CME Group from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $219.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $224.47.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total transaction of $312,062.88. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,652,298. This trade represents a 15.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.64, for a total value of $1,019,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 27,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,131,291.92. The trade was a 14.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,028 shares of company stock worth $1,811,681. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.