Caprock Group LLC Increases Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Caprock Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 559 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,342,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new position in CME Group during the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its stake in CME Group by 62.2% during the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in CME Group by 66.1% during the 2nd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 515.2% during the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new position in CME Group during the 1st quarter worth $82,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ CME opened at $228.00 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.97, a PEG ratio of 5.20 and a beta of 0.55. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $230.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $223.21 and a 200 day moving average of $210.81.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. CME Group’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.25 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 48.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen initiated coverage on CME Group in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. They set a “hold” rating and a $221.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Barclays boosted their price target on CME Group from $219.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $224.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 7,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,652,298. This represents a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total value of $89,168.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,587,935.64. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,621 shares of company stock valued at $3,441,063. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.