CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Acquired by Venture Visionary Partners LLC

Venture Visionary Partners LLC boosted its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 33,797 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the period. Venture Visionary Partners LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $7,458,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in CME Group in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the second quarter worth about $36,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 66.1% during the second quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 515.2% during the second quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its holdings in CME Group by 62.2% in the third quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on CME. Barclays increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $228.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $220.07.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME traded down $1.27 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $227.05. The company had a trading volume of 1,130,977 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,937,872. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $230.12. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $216.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $208.32. The stock has a market cap of $81.75 billion, a PE ratio of 25.97, a P/E/G ratio of 7.76 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.53 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 56.98% and a return on equity of 12.82%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.30 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.33%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Sunday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total transaction of $163,610.46. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 13,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,877,504.39. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total value of $163,610.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,877,504.39. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total transaction of $1,629,381.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 55,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,932,706.13. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.