CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Purchased by M&T Bank Corp

M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 10.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 96,069 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,968 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in CME Group were worth $21,198,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in CME Group by 0.6% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,723,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 11.8% in the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 0.7% during the second quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich now owns 7,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its position in CME Group by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $338,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in CME Group by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $131,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total transaction of $226,960.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,589 shares in the company, valued at $2,403,279.44. This represents a 8.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total transaction of $312,062.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,652,298. The trade was a 15.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 7,274 shares of company stock valued at $1,648,071. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays increased their target price on CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $229.33.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $238.53 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $85.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.08, a PEG ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $249.02. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $230.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $214.98. 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 (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.25 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a dividend of $5.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.37%.

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.