Wedbush Securities Inc. Purchases 241 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Wedbush Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,847,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CME. Webster Bank N. A. grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 206.9% during the 2nd quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 89 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new stake in CME Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 59.2% during the second quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the first quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on CME. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on CME Group from $312.00 to $314.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Barclays dropped their target price on CME Group from $298.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on CME Group from $313.00 to $304.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 10th. 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, October 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 13th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $286.06.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $276.50 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $265.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $272.34. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $222.56 and a one year high of $290.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.71 billion, a PE ratio of 26.79, a PEG ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.68 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 48.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.47, for a total transaction of $3,229,407.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 17,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,734,436.80. This trade represents a 40.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 379 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.83, for a total value of $98,475.57. Following the sale, the insider owned 9,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,470,463.64. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 14,043 shares of company stock valued at $3,791,486. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.