Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. Takes $230,000 Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 836 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $230,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Webster Bank N. A. raised its position in CME Group by 206.9% during the 2nd quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 89 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in CME Group by 84.3% during the 2nd quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new position in CME Group during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its position in CME Group by 122.2% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in CME Group by 59.2% during the 2nd quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on CME shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $303.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $252.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of CME Group from $276.00 to $266.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Seven 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $283.71.

CME Group Stock Down 1.5%

CME opened at $267.18 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $268.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $271.32. The company has a market cap of $96.29 billion, a PE ratio of 25.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.23 and a beta of 0.41. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $213.94 and a 1 year high of $290.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 58.48% and a return on equity of 14.60%. The company’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.56 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th were paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 48.40%.

Insider Activity

In other 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 value of $102,704.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 379 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider owned 9,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,470,463.64. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,043 shares of company stock valued at $3,527,956 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.