Global Retirement Partners LLC Has $2.40 Million Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 26.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,865 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $2,397,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Webster Bank N. A. raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 206.9% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. bought a new stake in CME Group in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. acquired a new position in CME Group during the second quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the first quarter valued at $31,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Price Performance

CME opened at $275.06 on Tuesday. 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 capitalization of $99.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.27. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $273.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $272.07. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $224.62 and a one 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 58.84%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.68 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th were paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 12th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 48.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of CME Group from $313.00 to $304.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of CME Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group dropped 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, October 23rd. TD Cowen boosted their target price on CME Group from $288.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on CME Group from $201.00 to $209.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $290.82.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other news, Director William R. Shepard acquired 251 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $278.37 per share, for a total transaction of $69,870.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 258,710 shares in the company, valued at $72,017,102.70. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total transaction of $6,738,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 65,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,737,468.20. The trade was a 27.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About CME Group

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world’s largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company’s core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.