Weaver Consulting Group Takes $223,000 Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Weaver Consulting Group purchased a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 1,012 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $223,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 21.2% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 48,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,477,000 after purchasing an additional 8,443 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its stake 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 worth $6,156,000 after purchasing an additional 3,325 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 40.8% during 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 buying an additional 3,112 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 149.4% during the second quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 23,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,671,000 after buying an additional 14,234 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 18.3% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,826,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $403,017,000 after buying an additional 283,171 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on CME shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Four 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $224.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total transaction of $226,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,403,279.44. The trade was a 8.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total transaction of $163,610.46. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,877,504.39. This represents a 5.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 8,028 shares of company stock valued at $1,811,681. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME stock opened at $246.02 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $249.02. The firm has a market cap of $88.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.87, a PEG ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.56. 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 50-day simple moving average of $227.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $212.77.

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

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a 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 declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.