Harbor Advisors LLC Acquires New Shares in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 1,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 21.2% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 48,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,477,000 after purchasing an additional 8,443 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in CME Group by 429.1% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 47,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,231,000 after acquiring an additional 38,540 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in CME Group by 12.2% during the 2nd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 30,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,156,000 after purchasing an additional 3,325 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 197.2% in the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 6,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,306,000 after buying an additional 4,025 shares during the period. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 40.8% during the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,742 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,112,000 after purchasing an additional 3,112 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ:CME opened at $235.61 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.77, a PEG ratio of 5.49 and a beta of 0.56. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $238.97. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $225.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $211.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.25 EPS. CME Group’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CME. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $219.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America increased their target price on CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Redburn Atlantic cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Four investment 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 data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $224.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total value of $89,168.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,587,935.64. This represents a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at $2,877,504.39. This represents a 5.38 % 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 valued at $1,811,681. 0.30% of the stock is 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.