D.A. Davidson & CO. Has $6.66 Million Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 120 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $6,664,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new stake in CME Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in CME Group by 66.1% in the 2nd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC increased its position in CME Group by 515.2% during the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 62.2% during the third quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on CME. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America raised their price objective on CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on CME Group from $219.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $224.47.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total value of $1,629,381.87. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 55,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,932,706.13. This represents a 12.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $312,062.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,652,298. This represents a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,621 shares of company stock valued at $3,441,063 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $237.33 on Thursday. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $238.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $85.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.96, a PEG ratio of 5.29 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $224.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $211.56.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.25 EPS. CME Group’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.37%.

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.