Trust Co. of Vermont Purchases New Stake in CME Group Inc. $CME

Trust Co. of Vermont acquired a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 69,194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $15,280,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Asset Dedication LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 64.9% during the fourth quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 2,075.0% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership bought a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID boosted its stake in CME Group by 191.9% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Stock Down 0.7%

CME Group stock opened at $267.88 on Tuesday. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $218.31 and a fifty-two week high of $329.16. The stock has a market cap of $96.32 billion, a PE ratio of 22.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.23. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $250.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $280.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 63.30% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.96 EPS. Research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 12.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.11%.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard purchased 325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $230.57 per share, with a total value of $74,935.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 260,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,050,111.94. The trade was a 0.12% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on CME shares. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on CME Group from $323.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on CME Group from $329.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Bank of America upped their price target on CME Group from $226.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $291.81.

CME Group Company Profile

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world’s largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company’s core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.