Brophy Wealth Management LLC Takes $596,000 Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Brophy Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $596,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vestcor Inc raised its holdings in CME Group by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 14,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,195,000 after buying an additional 399 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp increased its position in shares of CME Group by 10.3% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 96,069 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,198,000 after acquiring an additional 8,968 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 354,421 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $78,203,000 after acquiring an additional 58,221 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 188.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 739.1% in the 3rd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 40,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,826,000 after acquiring an additional 35,233 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Down 1.1 %

CME opened at $236.72 on Tuesday. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $249.02. The company has a market cap of $85.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.89, a PEG ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $228.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $213.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a $5.80 dividend. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 48.37%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Sunday, September 15th. The stock was 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 $2,877,504.39. This trade represents a 5.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total value of $89,168.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. This represents a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 8,028 shares of company stock valued at $1,811,681. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup lifted their target price on CME Group from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $226.20.

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.