CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Acquired by Two Sigma Securities LLC

Two Sigma Securities LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 80.0% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 16,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,417 shares during the period. Two Sigma Securities LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $3,684,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 2,075.0% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID raised its stake in CME Group by 191.9% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of CME Group from $323.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on CME Group from $249.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Erste Group Bank downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on CME Group from $329.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $286.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $288.56.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard purchased 325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $230.57 per share, with a total value of $74,935.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 260,442 shares in the company, valued at $60,050,111.94. This trade represents a 0.12% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $285.80 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $253.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $278.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $102.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.24, a PEG ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $218.31 and a 52 week high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.08. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 63.30%.The business had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.96 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.27 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. CME Group’s payout ratio is 44.11%.

About CME Group

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.