Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Has $437.32 Million Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,981,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 26,642 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $437,320,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in CME Group by 137.6% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,260,644 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $444,443,000 after buying an additional 1,309,097 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 577.9% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 645,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $126,872,000 after acquiring an additional 550,133 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of CME Group by 11.3% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,283,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,038,676,000 after purchasing an additional 537,758 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 21,465.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 485,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,072,070,000 after purchasing an additional 483,618 shares during the period. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the 3rd quarter worth $79,692,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $226.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $81.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.87, a P/E/G ratio of 5.30 and a beta of 0.55. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $230.74. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $223.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $210.92.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.25 EPS. CME Group’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 48.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total transaction of $89,168.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,587,935.64. This represents a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Sunday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total value of $163,610.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 13,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,877,504.39. This trade represents a 5.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,621 shares of company stock valued at $3,441,063. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on CME. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Redburn Atlantic downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $224.47.

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.