CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Newly Acquired by Pensioenfonds Rail & OV

Pensioenfonds Rail & OV acquired a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 20,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,452,000. CME Group makes up approximately 1.4% of Pensioenfonds Rail & OV’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the second quarter worth about $612,000. Focus Financial Network Inc. acquired a new position in CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,513,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $53,671,000. Haverford Trust Co purchased a new stake in CME Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $13,818,000. Finally, Bowie Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in CME Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $22,991,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.50, for a total value of $121,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 25,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,636,310. This trade represents a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.00, for a total value of $606,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 19,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,021,519. This trade represents a 9.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 33,511 shares of company stock worth $9,714,580. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $286.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $315.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of CME Group from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $367.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on CME Group from $226.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on CME Group from $292.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.44.

CME Group Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:CME traded up $2.47 during trading on Friday, reaching $317.97. The stock had a trading volume of 1,579,861 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,061,318. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $286.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $281.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market cap of $113.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.08, a PEG ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 0.15. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $218.31 and a fifty-two week high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $3.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.68 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

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