Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 532,549 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 35,176,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 532,549 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 9.76% of CME Group worth $9,695,313,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. purchased a new position in CME Group in the second quarter worth about $306,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 16,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,673,000 after purchasing an additional 1,794 shares during the period. Mount Lucas Management LP bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,368,000. Slagle Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the second quarter worth approximately $3,536,000. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG grew its position in CME Group by 2.6% during the second quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 4,795 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,309,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on CME shares. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $288.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on CME Group from $262.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on CME Group from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Argus cut their price target on CME Group from $308.00 to $295.00 in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on CME Group from $312.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $287.65.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard purchased 262 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $265.19 per share, for a total transaction of $69,479.78. Following the acquisition, the director owned 258,459 shares in the company, valued at $68,540,742.21. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $4,734,436.80. The trade was a 40.55% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 14,043 shares of company stock valued at $3,791,486 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Price Performance

CME opened at $279.28 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $268.02 and a 200 day moving average of $272.83. The stock has a market cap of $100.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.06, a PEG ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $224.62 and a 52-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 net margin of 58.84% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.68 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

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

CME Group Company 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.