Grove Bank & Trust Grows Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Grove Bank & Trust grew its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 55 shares during the quarter. Grove Bank & Trust’s holdings in CME Group were worth $943,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CME. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in CME Group by 24.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,809,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,403,557,000 after acquiring an additional 3,069,806 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in CME Group by 11.3% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,283,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,038,676,000 after buying an additional 537,758 shares in the last quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd boosted its stake in CME Group by 1.1% during the first quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 4,009,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $863,112,000 after buying an additional 43,293 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in CME Group by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 3,029,145 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $595,530,000 after buying an additional 94,302 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,835,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $557,371,000 after acquiring an additional 176,004 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. They set a “hold” rating and a $221.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $228.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Barclays raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America increased their price objective on CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $219.53.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Sunday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total transaction of $163,610.46. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at $2,877,504.39. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total transaction of $1,629,381.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,932,706.13. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Sunday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total value of $163,610.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,877,504.39. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CME Group Trading Up 0.8 %

CME Group stock traded up $1.80 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $223.52. 376,736 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,946,195. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market cap of $80.48 billion, a PE ratio of 25.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.76 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $214.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $207.88. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $226.78.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.53 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 56.98% and a return on equity of 12.82%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.30 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 52.33%.

CME Group Company 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.