CME Group Inc. $CME Stock Holdings Increased by Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 5.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 627 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $3,086,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,643,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,190,661,000 after purchasing an additional 400,737 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 4,113,991 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,091,401,000 after purchasing an additional 363,130 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its position in shares of CME Group by 3.0% in the second quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,920,046 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $804,823,000 after acquiring an additional 84,005 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of CME Group by 29.9% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,818,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $747,744,000 after acquiring an additional 648,591 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 10.3% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,783,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $735,539,000 after acquiring an additional 260,065 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME opened at $268.15 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $267.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $271.30. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $213.94 and a 52 week high of $290.79. The company has a market capitalization of $96.64 billion, a PE ratio of 25.96, a PEG ratio of 6.13 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.05. CME Group had a net margin of 58.48% and a return on equity of 14.60%. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.56 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th were given a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 9th. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 48.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the topic of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of CME Group from $298.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of CME Group from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $283.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard bought 262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 25th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $265.19 per share, with a total value of $69,479.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 258,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,540,742.21. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 392 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.00, for a total transaction of $102,704.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 13,043 shares of company stock valued at $3,527,956. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.