Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Buys 14,845 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 37.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 54,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,845 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $11,942,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CME. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 515.2% during the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 62.2% in the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 2nd quarter worth $76,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CME. Barclays upped their target price on CME Group from $219.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $221.00 target price for the company. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $224.47.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME opened at $229.04 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $223.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.08. The company has a market capitalization of $82.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.08, a P/E/G ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 0.55. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $230.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.25 earnings per share. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.37%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at $11,932,706.13. This trade represents a 12.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total transaction of $312,062.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,652,298. The trade was a 15.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,621 shares of company stock worth $3,441,063 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

About CME Group

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.