Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Buys Shares of 7,695 CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Key Points

• Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new stake in CME Group Inc. by purchasing 7,695 shares valued at approximately $2,042,000 during the 1st quarter.
• Insiders at CME Group, including General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus and Director Daniel G. Kaye, have sold a combined 10,400 shares of the company in recent transactions.
• The company recently posted quarterly earnings of $2.96 per share, exceeding analysts' estimates, alongside a 10.4% increase in year-over-year revenue.

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 7,695 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,042,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Heartland Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the first quarter worth $377,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 256.9% in the first quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,662 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $971,000 after acquiring an additional 2,636 shares in the last quarter. OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the first quarter worth $367,000. Fulcrum Equity Management acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the first quarter worth $258,000. Finally, Aspire Growth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $548,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

CME Group Trading Up 0.9%

CME Group stock traded up $2.48 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $280.76. 3,011,041 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,073,115. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.17 billion, a PE ratio of 27.18, a P/E/G ratio of 4.99 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $276.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $263.89. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.62 and a 52 week high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.05. CME Group had a net margin of 58.48% and a return on equity of 14.60%. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.56 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. CME Group's payout ratio is presently 48.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on CME. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $261.93.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Derek Sammann sold 4,650 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.61, for a total transaction of $1,304,836.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,339,164.96. The trade was a 35.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Phyllis M. Lockett sold 1,060 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.88, for a total transaction of $294,552.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,108 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $863,651.04. The trade was a 25.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,400 shares of company stock valued at $2,881,130 in the last 90 days. Company 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.