National Bank of Canada FI Purchases 58,955 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 30.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 249,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 58,955 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in CME Group were worth $48,849,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Gold Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Northwest Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group in the first quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in CME Group by 66.1% in the second quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.44, for a total transaction of $586,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,399,936.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other CME Group news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.44, for a total value of $586,320.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,399,936.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total value of $1,629,381.87. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at $11,932,706.13. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $219.38 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $203.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $207.56. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $223.80. The company has a market capitalization of $78.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.51 and a beta of 0.52.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.03. CME Group had a net margin of 56.98% and a return on equity of 12.82%. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 9.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Bank of America downgraded shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $212.00 to $177.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $209.73.

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.