CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Purchased by Aureus Asset Management LLC

Aureus Asset Management LLC boosted its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the quarter. Aureus Asset Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $5,557,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 21.2% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 48,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,477,000 after acquiring an additional 8,443 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in CME Group by 429.1% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 47,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,231,000 after acquiring an additional 38,540 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its holdings in CME Group by 12.2% in the second quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 30,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,156,000 after acquiring an additional 3,325 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in CME Group by 197.2% in the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 6,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,306,000 after purchasing an additional 4,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in CME Group by 40.8% in the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,742 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,112,000 after purchasing an additional 3,112 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on CME shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $219.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $224.47.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $238.00 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.03, a PEG ratio of 5.49 and a beta of 0.55. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $238.97. The company’s fifty day moving average is $225.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The business’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.25 EPS. Analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Sunday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total value of $163,610.46. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,877,504.39. This represents a 5.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.64, for a total transaction of $1,019,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 27,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,131,291.92. This trade represents a 14.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,028 shares of company stock worth $1,811,681 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.