Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 277.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,425 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,259,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 24.0% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 1,987,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $548,150,000 after purchasing an additional 385,225 shares in the last quarter. Victory Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 310.2% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Financial Group LLC now owns 3,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $839,000 after purchasing an additional 2,302 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Capital LLC raised its position in CME Group by 583.8% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 13,327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,601,000 after purchasing an additional 11,378 shares during the period. Investors Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych Spolka Akcyjna bought a new stake in CME Group in the second quarter worth $1,389,000. Finally, Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in CME Group by 10.0% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 64,939 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,898,000 after purchasing an additional 5,914 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Down 1.6%

NASDAQ CME opened at $262.45 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $225.46 and a 1 year high of $290.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.64 billion, a PE ratio of 25.43, a PEG ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.27. 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $273.95 and its 200 day moving average is $271.89.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.68 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th were paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 12th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CME has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price objective on CME Group from $297.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Argus dropped their target price on CME Group from $308.00 to $295.00 in a report on Friday, October 31st. TD Cowen raised their price target on CME Group from $288.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on CME Group from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $291.06.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, Director William R. Shepard bought 251 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $278.37 per share, with a total value of $69,870.87. Following the transaction, the director owned 258,710 shares in the company, valued at approximately $72,017,102.70. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Harold Eugene Jr. Ford sold 1,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the director owned 1,091 shares in the company, valued at $287,511.23. This represents a 47.82% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.30% of the stock is currently 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.