CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Purchased by Wealthfront Advisers LLC

Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 17.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,924 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $16,763,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Webster Bank N. A. raised its holdings in CME Group by 206.9% in the 2nd quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 89 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 122.2% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in 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 last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 612.5% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME Group stock opened at $269.54 on Monday. 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 stock has a market cap of $97.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.65 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $266.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $271.90. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $213.94 and a 1-year high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 58.84% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.68 EPS. On average, analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 392 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.00, for a total transaction of $102,704.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 7,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,056,962. This trade represents a 4.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director William R. Shepard acquired 262 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $265.19 per share, with a total value of $69,479.78. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 258,459 shares in the company, valued at $68,540,742.21. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 13,043 shares of company stock worth $3,527,956. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on CME. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of CME Group from $285.00 to $280.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on shares of CME Group from $309.00 to $307.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $312.00 to $314.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $288.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $284.53.

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.