Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Boosts Stake in CME Group Inc. $CME

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,317 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. CME Group makes up 0.8% of Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $3,395,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 105.8% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 11,929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,165,000 after acquiring an additional 6,132 shares during the period. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in CME Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $226,000. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. purchased a new stake in CME Group during the 1st quarter valued at $241,000. Portside Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,878 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,029,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, Beacon Financial Group boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Beacon Financial Group now owns 1,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $350,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Down 0.2%

CME opened at $265.43 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $95.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.83 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $270.28 and its 200 day moving average is $271.11. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $213.94 and a fifty-two week high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.05. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 58.48%.The business had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.68 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.56 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 9th were issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 48.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on CME shares. UBS Group reduced their price objective on CME Group from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $246.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $303.00 to $312.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $274.15.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.00, for a total transaction of $102,704.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 7,851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,056,962. This represents a 4.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.47, for a total transaction of $3,229,407.12. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 17,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,734,436.80. The trade was a 40.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 13,043 shares of company stock valued at $3,527,956. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CME Group 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.