Enterprise Financial Services Corp Makes New $207,000 Investment in CME Group Inc. $CME

Enterprise Financial Services Corp bought a new stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Jessup Wealth Management Inc grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Jessup Wealth Management Inc now owns 7,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,197,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in CME Group by 0.7% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 5,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,453,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 2.3% in the first quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 1,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $441,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 2.0% in the second quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $538,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 0.8% during the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 5,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,384,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Down 0.8%

CME opened at $273.09 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.46, a PEG ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $268.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $272.70. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $224.62 and a twelve month high of $290.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 58.84% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.68 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William R. Shepard bought 262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $265.19 per share, with a total value of $69,479.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 258,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,540,742.21. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Harold Eugene Jr. Ford sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.53, for a total transaction of $263,530.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $287,511.23. The trade was a 47.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 14,043 shares of company stock valued at $3,791,486. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on CME shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Argus decreased their target price on shares of CME Group from $308.00 to $295.00 in a report on Friday, October 31st. Citigroup upgraded shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $275.00 to $300.00 in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of CME Group from $298.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on CME Group from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $287.65.

CME Group Company Profile

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.