Sanctuary Advisors LLC Invests $9.01 Million in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 42,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,013,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 28,344 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,969,000 after buying an additional 2,591 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its holdings in CME Group by 231.8% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 54,157 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,405,000 after purchasing an additional 37,836 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,779,267 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $795,914,000 after purchasing an additional 111,129 shares during the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 123.7% in the fourth quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 6,564 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,385,000 after purchasing an additional 3,630 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vinva Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 12,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,624,000 after purchasing an additional 1,991 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Stock Up 0.3 %

CME stock opened at $224.27 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $211.69 and a 200-day moving average of $207.71. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $226.78. The company has a market capitalization of $80.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.51, a PEG ratio of 8.74 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

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

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 52.33%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total transaction of $1,629,381.87. Following the sale, the director now 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 this hyperlink. In other news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total transaction of $1,629,381.87. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at $11,932,706.13. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the firm’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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,877,504.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on CME Group from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $213.77.

CME Group Company Profile

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.