Townsquare Capital LLC Boosts Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 49.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,554 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,801 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $5,197,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 1,078 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $232,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in CME Group in the first quarter worth approximately $15,017,000. Atria Investments Inc increased its stake in CME Group by 7.4% during the first quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 30,295 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,522,000 after acquiring an additional 2,096 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in CME Group by 429.1% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 47,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,231,000 after acquiring an additional 38,540 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC raised its position in CME Group by 27.8% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 9,747 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,098,000 after purchasing an additional 2,121 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

CME stock opened at $237.33 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $225.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.96, a P/E/G ratio of 5.29 and a beta of 0.55. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $238.12.

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

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 48.37%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,877,504.39. The trade was a 5.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were 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 approximately $1,652,298. The trade was a 15.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,028 shares of company stock valued at $1,811,681 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer increased their price target on CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on CME Group from $219.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $224.47.

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.