Foster Group Inc. Buys New Shares in CME Group Inc. $CME

Foster Group Inc. bought a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 20,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,312,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in CME Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,749,965,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in CME Group by 39.1% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,019,944 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,187,290,000 after buying an additional 1,130,587 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the second quarter worth approximately $867,313,000. Alphabet Inc. bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the second quarter worth approximately $769,376,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the second quarter worth approximately $629,771,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CME. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $226.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on CME Group from $267.00 to $245.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on CME Group from $329.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $286.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $292.06.

CME Group Stock Up 0.3%

NASDAQ CME opened at $278.03 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $272.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $270.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $218.31 and a 52 week high of $329.16. The company has a market capitalization of $99.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.24.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.08. CME Group had a net margin of 63.30% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The business had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.96 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 12.29 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 9th were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 is presently 44.11%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 40,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,150,497.20. This represents a 26.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director William R. Shepard acquired 293 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $268.76 per share, with a total value of $78,746.68. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 263,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $70,761,551.64. The trade was a 0.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Profile

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.