Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Acquires 2,409 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS increased its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 5.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 46,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,409 shares during the quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in CME Group were worth $12,072,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CME. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,749,965,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 39.1% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,019,944 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,187,290,000 after purchasing an additional 1,130,587 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $867,313,000. Alphabet Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $769,376,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $629,771,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, Director William Shepard purchased 293 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $268.76 per share, with a total value of $78,746.68. Following the transaction, the director owned 263,289 shares in the company, valued at $70,761,551.64. This represents a 0.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.70, for a total value of $1,493,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 20,037 shares in the company, valued at $5,985,051.90. This represents a 19.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 32,979 shares of company stock worth $9,552,762. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CME shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on CME Group from $315.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $330.00 price objective (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 CME Group in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $286.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded CME Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 31st. Ten 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.44.

CME Group Price Performance

CME Group stock opened at $305.89 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $283.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $280.79. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $218.31 and a 12-month high of $329.16. The stock has a market cap of $109.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.09, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.15.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $3.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.99 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 63.33% and a return on equity of 16.23%. CME Group’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.68 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.34 earnings per share 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 issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 11th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.66%.

About CME Group

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.

CME Group was formed in 2007 through the merger of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade, institutions with roots in the 19th century.