Trust Co. of Vermont Invests $15.28 Million in CME Group Inc. $CME

Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 69,194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $15,280,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Asset Dedication LLC raised its position in CME Group by 64.9% in the fourth quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 2,075.0% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 191.9% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of CME stock opened at $267.88 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.72, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.23. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $250.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $280.07. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $218.31 and a 1 year high of $329.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 63.30%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.96 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.27 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director William R. Shepard bought 325 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $230.57 per share, with a total value of $74,935.25. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 260,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,050,111.94. This represents a 0.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on CME shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $249.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings lowered CME Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on CME Group from $323.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on CME Group from $267.00 to $245.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $291.81.

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.