CWC Advisors LLC. Buys 137 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

CWC Advisors LLC. lifted its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. CWC Advisors LLC.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,302,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CME. Heartland Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in CME Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $377,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 256.9% during the first 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 period. OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the first quarter worth approximately $367,000. Fulcrum Equity Management purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the first quarter worth $258,000. Finally, AIA Group Ltd increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 17.8% in the first quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 16,645 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,416,000 after buying an additional 2,510 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 379 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.83, for a total transaction of $98,475.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,470,463.64. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 392 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.00, for a total transaction of $102,704.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 7,851 shares in the company, valued at $2,056,962. The trade was a 4.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 13,043 shares of company stock worth $3,527,956. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on CME. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Erste Group Bank cut CME Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on CME Group from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $260.60.

CME Group Price Performance

CME stock opened at $260.59 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.38 and a 1 year high of $290.79. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $272.25 and a 200 day moving average of $270.52. The company has a market cap of $93.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.23, a PEG ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.43.

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

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 48.40%.

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.