CME Group Inc. $CME Stock Purchased by Walter Public Investments Inc.

Walter Public Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 60.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 14,389 shares during the period. CME Group comprises 2.4% of Walter Public Investments Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Walter Public Investments Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $9,967,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Command Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in CME Group by 104.2% in the third quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 433 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 7.3% during the third quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. now owns 4,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,113,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Davis Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 12.7% during the third quarter. Davis Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 38.1% in the third quarter. Bahl & Gaynor LLC now owns 861,488 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $225,693,000 after buying an additional 237,846 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renasant Bank increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 20.9% in the third quarter. Renasant Bank now owns 3,845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,007,000 after buying an additional 665 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 15,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.44, for a total transaction of $4,116,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 40,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,150,497.20. The trade was a 26.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 10,079 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.15, for a total value of $3,075,606.85. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 21,482 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,555,232.30. This trade represents a 31.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 33,511 shares of company stock valued at $9,714,580 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CME. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on CME Group from $315.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $330.00 price target (up from $295.00) on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. CLSA set a $367.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $292.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of CME Group from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $367.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.44.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME stock opened at $315.86 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $284.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $281.22. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $218.31 and a fifty-two week high of $329.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $113.06 billion, a PE ratio of 25.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.15.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $3.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.99 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 16.23% and a net margin of 63.33%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.68 EPS. Analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 12.35 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 11th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 11th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 42.66%.

CME Group Company Profile

CME Group operates a global marketplace for derivatives and other financial products. Through its exchanges—CME, CBOT, NYMEX and COMEX—it offers futures and options contracts tied to interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural products and metals. The company also provides clearing and settlement services, market data and related products. Its electronic trading platform, CME Globex, supports access to its markets by participants around the world, alongside its open-outcry and privately negotiated trading services.