CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Purchased by Aureus Asset Management LLC

Aureus Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 25,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the period. Aureus Asset Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $5,557,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in CME Group by 11.3% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,283,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,038,676,000 after acquiring an additional 537,758 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 3.2% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 3,029,145 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $595,530,000 after buying an additional 94,302 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 6.6% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,835,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $557,371,000 after buying an additional 176,004 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 137.6% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,260,644 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $444,443,000 after buying an additional 1,309,097 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,981,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $437,320,000 after buying an additional 26,642 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CME. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Oppenheimer upped 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. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $224.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total transaction of $226,960.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,403,279.44. This represents a 8.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 7,275 shares in the company, valued at $1,652,298. This represents a 15.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,028 shares of company stock valued at $1,811,681 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CME Group Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ CME opened at $238.00 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $225.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.96. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $238.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.03, a PEG ratio of 5.49 and a beta of 0.55.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.25 earnings per share. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 48.37%.

About CME Group

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.