Alta Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in CME Group Inc. $CME

Alta Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 15,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,104,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Caldwell Trust Co raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 116.3% in the third quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 93 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA purchased a new stake in CME Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new position in CME Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. purchased a new position in CME Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Corundum Trust Company INC purchased a new position in CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $264.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of CME Group in a report on Monday, December 29th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on CME Group from $296.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on CME Group from $201.00 to $209.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on CME Group from $310.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $292.18.

CME Group Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $293.07 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $275.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $272.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $238.12 and a fifty-two week high of $296.16. The company has a market cap of $105.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.27.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 12th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.45%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard bought 251 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $278.37 per share, for a total transaction of $69,870.87. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 258,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $72,017,102.70. This represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total transaction of $6,738,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 65,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,737,468.20. The trade was a 27.53% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.