CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Acquired by Townsquare Capital LLC

Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 49.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 23,554 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,801 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $5,197,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in CME Group by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,723,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 11.8% during the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 0.7% during the second quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich now owns 7,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its position in CME Group by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $338,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $131,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total transaction of $89,168.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,587,935.64. This trade represents a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total transaction of $226,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,403,279.44. This represents a 8.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 8,028 shares of company stock valued at $1,811,681. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on CME. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on CME Group from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen began coverage on CME Group in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. They set a “hold” rating and a $221.00 target price for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $224.47.

CME Group Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of CME stock opened at $237.33 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $85.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.96, a P/E/G ratio of 5.29 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $238.12. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $225.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $211.73.

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

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.37%.

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.