1,544 Shares in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Purchased by Verity Asset Management Inc.

Verity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 1,544 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $341,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new position in CME Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of CME Group by 66.1% in the 2nd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 515.2% in the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 62.2% during the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in CME Group during the second quarter valued at about $76,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen began coverage on CME Group in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $221.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $222.73.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $225.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $221.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $209.91. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $230.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.73, a PEG ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 0.55.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.23 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 48.37%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total transaction of $1,629,381.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,932,706.13. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other CME Group news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total value of $89,168.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total transaction of $1,629,381.87. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,932,706.13. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,621 shares of company stock valued at $3,441,063 in the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.