Two Sigma Advisers LP Buys 237,800 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,230,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 237,800 shares during the period. CME Group comprises 1.2% of Two Sigma Advisers LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Two Sigma Advisers LP owned approximately 0.62% of CME Group worth $492,072,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in CME Group by 137.6% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,260,644 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $444,443,000 after buying an additional 1,309,097 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in CME Group by 577.9% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 645,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,872,000 after acquiring an additional 550,133 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 11.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,283,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,038,676,000 after purchasing an additional 537,758 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in CME Group by 21,465.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 485,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,072,070,000 after purchasing an additional 483,618 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 17.8% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,514,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $554,707,000 after buying an additional 380,071 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. They set a “hold” rating and a $221.00 target price on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $224.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,877,504.39. The trade was a 5.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.64, for a total transaction of $1,019,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 27,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,131,291.92. The trade was a 14.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,028 shares of company stock valued at $1,811,681. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $246.02 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.87, a PEG ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.56. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $249.02. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $227.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $212.77. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.25 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.37%.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group 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.