VeraBank N.A. Purchases 199 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

VeraBank N.A. lifted its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 19.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 199 shares during the quarter. VeraBank N.A.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $341,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CME. Stephens Inc. AR raised its stake in CME Group by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 2,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $674,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 24.0% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 56,429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,970,000 after purchasing an additional 10,906 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 16.2% during the first quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 409 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 3.9% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,458 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,448,000 after buying an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Financial Partners LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 3.6% in the first quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $454,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on CME. Argus lowered their price objective on CME Group from $308.00 to $295.00 in a research note on Friday, October 31st. TD Cowen increased their target price on CME Group from $288.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $266.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of CME Group from $298.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $286.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.47, for a total transaction of $3,229,407.12. Following the sale, the insider owned 17,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,734,436.80. This trade represents a 40.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Harold Eugene Jr. Ford sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.53, for a total value of $263,530.00. Following the sale, the director owned 1,091 shares in the company, valued at $287,511.23. This represents a 47.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 14,043 shares of company stock worth $3,791,486 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME Group stock opened at $278.84 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $100.55 billion, a PE ratio of 27.02, a P/E/G ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.38. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $222.56 and a 12-month high of $290.79. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $266.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $272.60.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.05. The company 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.68 EPS. As a group, analysts expect 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 will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 48.45%.

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.