PineStone Asset Management Inc. Has $694.41 Million Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,570,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,509 shares during the period. CME Group accounts for 4.3% of PineStone Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. PineStone Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $694,412,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Jessup Wealth Management Inc boosted its holdings in CME Group by 0.5% during the second quarter. Jessup Wealth Management Inc now owns 7,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,197,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 5,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,453,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 1,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $441,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC grew its position in CME Group by 2.7% in the second quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 1,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $392,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in CME Group by 2.0% during the second quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $538,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME stock opened at $276.73 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $273.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $271.89. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $224.62 and a fifty-two week high of $290.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.79 billion, a PE ratio of 26.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.28.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 58.84%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.68 EPS. Analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on CME. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of CME Group from $264.00 to $263.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Argus reduced their price target on shares of CME Group from $308.00 to $295.00 in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $282.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $290.82.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Harold Eugene Jr. Ford sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.53, for a total transaction of $263,530.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $287,511.23. The trade was a 47.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total transaction of $6,738,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 65,804 shares in the company, valued at $17,737,468.20. This represents a 27.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Company Profile

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world’s largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company’s core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.