CME Group Inc. $CME Position Boosted by PineStone Asset Management Inc.

Key Points

• PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in CME Group by 7.4% in the second quarter, holding approximately 2.5 million shares valued at $700 million, making it the 8th largest asset in their portfolio.
• Wall Street analysts have varied outlooks on CME Group, with price targets ranging from $252 to $298, while the average rating is currently a "Hold" with a target price of $268.14.
• CME Group recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.25, translating to an annualized yield of 1.9%, with a dividend payout ratio of 48.40%.

PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,540,578 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 175,393 shares during the period. CME Group makes up approximately 4.5% of PineStone Asset Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding. PineStone Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.71% of CME Group worth $700,234,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Webster Bank N. A. grew its stake in CME Group by 206.9% during the second quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 89 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 122.2% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 612.5% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on CME. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on CME Group from $246.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays set a $298.00 price target on CME Group and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup raised shares of CME Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $275.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 13th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of CME Group from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $268.14.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 392 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.00, for a total transaction of $102,704.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 7,851 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,056,962. This represents a 4.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 379 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.83, for a total transaction of $98,475.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,508 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,470,463.64. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,043 shares of company stock valued at $3,527,956 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CME Group Stock Up 1.6%

CME stock opened at $268.73 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $270.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $270.80. The company has a market capitalization of $96.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.01, a PEG ratio of 4.79 and a beta of 0.43. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $213.94 and a twelve month 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 58.48% and a return on equity of 14.60%. The firm's revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.56 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 9th were paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.40%.

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.

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