Parnassus Investments LLC Has $93.69 Million Stake in CME Group Inc. $CME

Parnassus Investments LLC raised its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 346,744 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 32,606 shares during the quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC owned 0.10% of CME Group worth $93,687,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Webster Bank N. A. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 206.9% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Caldwell Trust Co lifted its holdings in CME Group by 116.3% in the 3rd quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 93 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in CME Group by 84.3% during 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 period. Financial Consulate Inc. bought a new position in CME Group in the third quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Sagard Holdings Management Inc. bought a new stake in CME Group during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total transaction of $6,738,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 65,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,737,468.20. This represents a 27.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director William R. Shepard acquired 251 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was bought at an average price of $278.37 per share, for a total transaction of $69,870.87. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 258,710 shares in the company, valued at $72,017,102.70. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on CME shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $280.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $288.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $310.00 to $318.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target 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. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $291.06.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $262.45 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $273.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $271.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.43, a PEG ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $225.46 and a fifty-two week high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted 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 return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 58.84%.The business had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.68 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th were given a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 12th. 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%.

CME Group Profile

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world’s largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company’s core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.