2,765 Shares in CME Group Inc. $CME Purchased by Apeiron RIA LLC

Apeiron RIA LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 2,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $724,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,749,965,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in CME Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $867,313,000. Alphabet Inc. bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $769,376,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $629,771,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in CME Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $622,679,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CME has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $286.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $226.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $320.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of CME Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 3rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $291.62.

CME Group Price Performance

CME traded up $7.59 during trading on Thursday, hitting $277.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 978,638 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,517,471. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.24. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $271.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $271.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $218.31 and a twelve month high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 63.30% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The company’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.96 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th were issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Terrence Duffy sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.44, for a total transaction of $4,116,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 40,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,150,497.20. This represents a 26.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director William Shepard purchased 293 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $268.76 per share, with a total value of $78,746.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 263,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $70,761,551.64. This represents a 0.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About CME Group

CME Group Inc operates global derivatives marketplaces that enable customers to manage risk and trade futures and options contracts. Its exchanges offer products linked to interest rates, equity indexes, foreign currencies, agricultural commodities, energy, metals and other asset classes.

The company also provides central counterparty clearing, settlement and related risk-management services for transactions conducted on its markets. In addition, CME Group offers market data, benchmark products and technology services that support trading, analysis and connectivity for financial institutions, businesses, professional traders and other market participants.

CME Group’s history includes the Chicago Board of Trade, founded in 1848, and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, established in 1898.