Peterson Wealth Services Boosts Stock Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Peterson Wealth Services lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,846 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 176 shares during the quarter. Peterson Wealth Services’ holdings in CME Group were worth $2,714,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 24.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,859,000 after purchasing an additional 1,381 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 3,662.5% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 602 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $160,000 after buying an additional 586 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in CME Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $227,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 157.7% in the first quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 303,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $80,598,000 after acquiring an additional 185,941 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CME shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CME Group in a report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $266.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on CME Group from $252.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $284.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.47, for a total transaction of $3,229,407.12. Following the sale, the insider owned 17,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,734,436.80. This trade represents a 40.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director William R. Shepard purchased 262 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $265.19 per share, with a total value of $69,479.78. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 258,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,540,742.21. This represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 13,043 shares of company stock worth $3,527,956. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME opened at $269.54 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $266.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $271.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.14 billion, a PE ratio of 26.12, a PEG ratio of 6.18 and a beta of 0.41. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $213.94 and a 1 year high of $290.79. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.05. CME Group had a net margin of 58.84% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.68 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.45%.

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.