Bank of Montreal Can Boosts Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 724,921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,326 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned approximately 0.20% of CME Group worth $142,791,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CME. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $782,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Lantz Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 4,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $982,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 0.7% during the 2nd 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. Finally, Greystone Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC now owns 3,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $691,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Bank of America lowered shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $212.00 to $177.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on CME Group from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $209.73.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $215.86 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.85 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The business has a 50-day moving average of $208.23 and a 200 day moving average of $207.38. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $223.80.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.03. CME Group had a net margin of 56.98% and a return on equity of 12.82%. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be paid a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.33%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total value of $1,629,381.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at $11,932,706.13. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other CME Group news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total transaction of $163,610.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,877,504.39. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total transaction of $1,629,381.87. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at $11,932,706.13. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.