CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Acquired by Acadian Asset Management LLC

Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 944.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 93,065 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 84,156 shares during the quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $25,647,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Webster Bank N. A. increased its position in shares of CME Group by 206.9% during the second quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 89 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in CME Group by 84.3% in the 2nd quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Ransom Advisory Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 59.2% in the 2nd quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Key Financial Inc grew its holdings in CME Group by 119.0% during the first quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CME. UBS Group lowered their price target on CME Group from $285.00 to $280.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $266.00 to $300.00 in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Barclays cut their price target on CME Group from $298.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Argus reduced their price objective on CME Group from $308.00 to $295.00 in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $286.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director William R. Shepard bought 262 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $265.19 per share, for a total transaction of $69,479.78. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 258,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,540,742.21. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.00, for a total value of $102,704.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 7,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,056,962. This represents a 4.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 14,043 shares of company stock worth $3,791,486 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $277.28 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $99.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.87, a PEG ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.38. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $266.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $272.52. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $222.56 and a 12-month high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.05. CME Group had a net margin of 58.84% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.68 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.45%.

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.