Brighton Jones LLC Buys 556 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 46.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,762 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 556 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $486,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of CME Group by 7.7% in the second quarter. Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. now owns 1,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $465,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. MQS Management LLC bought a new position in CME Group during the second quarter worth about $219,000. Leavell Investment Management Inc. increased its position in CME Group by 8.7% during the second quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 23,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,604,000 after acquiring an additional 1,912 shares during the period. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs increased its position in CME Group by 0.9% during the second quarter. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs now owns 13,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,727,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC increased its position in CME Group by 60.3% during the second quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 6,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,891,000 after acquiring an additional 2,581 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, Director William R. Shepard purchased 262 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $265.19 per share, for a total transaction of $69,479.78. Following the purchase, the director owned 258,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,540,742.21. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 379 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.83, for a total transaction of $98,475.57. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 9,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,470,463.64. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 13,043 shares of company stock valued at $3,527,956. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CME Group Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $261.53 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $94.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.34, a PEG ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $213.94 and a 12-month high of $290.79. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $266.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $272.08.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 58.84% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.68 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th were paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of CME Group from $298.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $266.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $312.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler raised 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. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $288.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $284.53.

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.