Aberdeen Group plc Purchases 9,594 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Aberdeen Group plc boosted its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 620,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,594 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc owned 0.17% of CME Group worth $169,542,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Webster Bank N. A. increased its position in shares of CME Group by 206.9% during the second quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 89 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 84.3% during the second quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 122.2% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 59.2% during the second quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of CME opened at $271.45 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $97.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.28, a P/E/G ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $268.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $271.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $213.94 and a 1 year high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.56 earnings per share. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th were given a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 48.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CME. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CME Group in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen cut CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on CME Group from $276.00 to $266.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group decreased their price target on CME Group from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $281.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 392 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.00, for a total value of $102,704.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 7,851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,056,962. The trade was a 4.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director William R. Shepard acquired 262 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $265.19 per share, with a total value of $69,479.78. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 258,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,540,742.21. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 13,043 shares of company stock worth $3,527,956. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.