Fruth Investment Management Makes New Investment in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Fruth Investment Management acquired a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of CME. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 66.1% in the 2nd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 515.2% in the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 1st quarter worth about $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $224.20 on Tuesday. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $226.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a 50-day moving average of $215.15 and a 200-day moving average of $207.94. The firm has a market cap of $80.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.76 and a beta of 0.55.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.03. CME Group had a net margin of 56.98% and a return on equity of 12.82%. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.30 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were given a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $221.00 target price for the company. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $219.53.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total value of $163,610.46. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,877,504.39. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total value of $163,610.46. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,877,504.39. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total transaction of $1,629,381.87. Following the sale, the director now owns 55,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,932,706.13. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.