Wealthfront Advisers LLC Raises Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 17.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,924 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $16,763,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Webster Bank N. A. boosted its position in CME Group by 206.9% in the 2nd quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 89 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 84.3% in the 2nd quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 122.2% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 59.2% in the 2nd quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $269.54 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $266.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $271.90. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $213.94 and a 12 month high of $290.79. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $97.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.12, a P/E/G ratio of 6.65 and a beta of 0.41.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.05. CME Group had a net margin of 58.84% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.68 EPS. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th were paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 48.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CME Group in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $252.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of CME Group from $313.00 to $304.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $266.00 to $300.00 in a report on Thursday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $284.53.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 17,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,734,436.80. The trade was a 40.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 392 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.00, for a total transaction of $102,704.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 7,851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,056,962. This represents a 4.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 13,043 shares of company stock valued at $3,527,956. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group 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.