PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Acquires 1,711 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 163,613 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,711 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $44,207,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Caldwell Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 116.3% in the 3rd quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 93 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA bought a new stake in CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Financial Consulate Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Corundum Trust Company INC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other news, Director Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $224,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,699 shares in the company, valued at $809,700. This trade represents a 21.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 65,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,737,468.20. This trade represents a 27.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CME Group Trading Up 0.5%

NASDAQ:CME opened at $303.07 on Tuesday. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $244.43 and a 12 month high of $309.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $280.48 and its 200 day moving average is $274.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $109.29 billion, a PE ratio of 27.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.27.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.65% and a net margin of 62.45%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Argus decreased their price target on CME Group from $308.00 to $295.00 in a report on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of CME Group in a report on Monday, December 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $319.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $304.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $299.53.

CME Group Company Profile

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.