Berkshire Bank Buys 89 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Berkshire Bank boosted its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the quarter. Berkshire Bank’s holdings in CME Group were worth $315,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Heartland Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in CME Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $377,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 256.9% during the 1st quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $971,000 after purchasing an additional 2,636 shares during the last quarter. OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. bought a new position in CME Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $367,000. Fulcrum Equity Management bought a new position in CME Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $258,000. Finally, AIA Group Ltd grew its holdings in CME Group by 17.8% during the 1st quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 16,645 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,416,000 after purchasing an additional 2,510 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.47, for a total value of $3,229,407.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 17,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,734,436.80. This represents a 40.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director William R. Shepard purchased 256 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $270.53 per share, with a total value of $69,255.68. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 258,196 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,849,763.88. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $259.83 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $93.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.15, a P/E/G ratio of 4.69 and a beta of 0.43. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $272.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $270.55. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $212.38 and a one year high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 58.48% and a return on equity of 14.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.56 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be given a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on CME. Barclays set a $298.00 price target on shares of CME Group and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of CME Group from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 8th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of CME Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $260.60.

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.