PDS Planning Inc Raises Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

PDS Planning Inc lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the quarter. PDS Planning Inc’s holdings in CME Group were worth $837,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Webster Bank N. A. grew its holdings 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 worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 612.5% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director William R. Shepard purchased 262 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $265.19 per share, for a total transaction of $69,479.78. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 258,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,540,742.21. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, 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 value of $3,229,407.12. Following the transaction, the insider 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. Insiders have sold 13,043 shares of company stock valued at $3,527,956 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

CME opened at $271.45 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $268.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $271.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market cap of $97.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 0.41. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $213.94 and a 12-month high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 58.48%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.56 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on CME Group from $313.00 to $304.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Barclays cut their target price on CME Group from $298.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup raised CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $275.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. UBS Group cut their target price on CME Group from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on CME Group from $246.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $281.00.

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.