Peoples Bank KS Decreases Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

Peoples Bank KS lowered its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 46.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,885 shares during the period. Peoples Bank KS’s holdings in CME Group were worth $577,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Amundi lifted its holdings in CME Group by 24.0% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 1,987,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $548,150,000 after acquiring an additional 385,225 shares during the period. Victory Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 310.2% in the second quarter. Victory Financial Group LLC now owns 3,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $839,000 after buying an additional 2,302 shares during the last quarter. Investors Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych Spolka Akcyjna bought a new stake in CME Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,389,000. Truist Financial Corp raised its position in CME Group by 10.0% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 64,939 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,898,000 after acquiring an additional 5,914 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of CME Group by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,312,251 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $637,300,000 after acquiring an additional 225,449 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on CME Group from $312.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $296.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. TD Cowen increased their price target on CME Group from $288.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Argus decreased their target price on CME Group from $308.00 to $295.00 in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on CME Group from $282.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $290.47.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard acquired 262 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 25th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $265.19 per share, for a total transaction of $69,479.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 258,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,540,742.21. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Harold Eugene Jr. Ford sold 1,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.53, for a total transaction of $263,530.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $287,511.23. The trade was a 47.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $273.74 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $272.42 and a 200 day moving average of $272.03. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $224.62 and a 12 month high of $290.79. The firm has a market cap of $98.71 billion, a PE ratio of 26.53, a PEG ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 0.28. 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 (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 58.84%.The company’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.68 EPS. On average, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. CME Group’s payout ratio 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.