M&T Bank Corp Purchases 8,968 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 10.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 96,069 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,968 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in CME Group were worth $21,198,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in CME Group by 21.2% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 48,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,477,000 after buying an additional 8,443 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management increased its holdings in CME Group by 12.2% during the 2nd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 30,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,156,000 after purchasing an additional 3,325 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its holdings in CME Group by 58.4% during the 3rd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 613,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $135,441,000 after purchasing an additional 226,306 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in CME Group by 40.8% during the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,742 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,112,000 after purchasing an additional 3,112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC increased its holdings in CME Group by 149.4% during the 2nd quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 23,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,671,000 after purchasing an additional 14,234 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Price Performance

CME Group stock opened at $239.19 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $86.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.15, a PEG ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $228.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $213.16. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $249.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.25 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 EPS for the current year.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a dividend of $5.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the stock in a transaction on Sunday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total value of $163,610.46. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,877,504.39. This trade represents a 5.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total value of $89,168.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,587,935.64. This trade represents a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,028 shares of company stock worth $1,811,681 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen initiated coverage on CME Group in a report on Thursday, September 26th. They set a “hold” rating and a $221.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Oppenheimer upped their target price on CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $226.20.

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.