Candriam S.C.A. Increases Stake in CME Group Inc. $CME

Candriam S.C.A. increased its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 59.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 132,581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 49,537 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $36,544,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Webster Bank N. A. lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 206.9% during the second quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 89 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 84.3% in the 2nd quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Ransom Advisory Ltd purchased a new position in CME Group in the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 59.2% during the 2nd quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in CME Group by 105.0% during the 2nd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $279.58 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $266.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $272.65. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $222.56 and a 1-year high of $290.79. The firm has a market cap of $100.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.38.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.68 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 48.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CME. UBS Group cut their price objective on CME Group from $285.00 to $280.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Raymond James Financial cut their price target on shares of CME Group from $309.00 to $307.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $288.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $266.00 to $300.00 in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Eight 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $286.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 379 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.83, for a total transaction of $98,475.57. Following the transaction, the insider owned 9,508 shares in the company, valued at $2,470,463.64. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.47, for a total transaction of $3,229,407.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 17,440 shares in the company, valued at $4,734,436.80. This represents a 40.55% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 14,043 shares of company stock worth $3,791,486 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group 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.