Advisors Capital Management LLC Buys 4,550 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Advisors Capital Management LLC lifted its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 108,340 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,550 shares during the period. Advisors Capital Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $29,861,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CME. GQG Partners LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 7,676.3% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 2,205,041 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $584,975,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176,685 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of CME Group by 370.5% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,653,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $704,068,000 after purchasing an additional 2,089,935 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 1st quarter valued at $218,842,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 185.5% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,244,608 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $330,182,000 after buying an additional 808,740 shares during the period. Finally, Egerton Capital UK LLP increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 79.4% in the first quarter. Egerton Capital UK LLP now owns 1,730,194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $459,003,000 after purchasing an additional 765,773 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $283.54 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $266.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $272.73. The company has a market cap of $102.24 billion, a PE ratio of 27.47, a PEG ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.05. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 58.84%.The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.68 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 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 Tuesday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of CME Group from $313.00 to $304.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $296.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $288.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on CME Group from $285.00 to $280.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $287.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 379 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.83, for a total value of $98,475.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,508 shares in the company, valued at $2,470,463.64. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 392 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.00, for a total value of $102,704.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 7,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,056,962. This represents a 4.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 14,043 shares of company stock worth $3,791,486. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Profile

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.