Townsquare Capital LLC Has $6.99 Million Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Key Points

• Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in CME Group Inc. by 10.8% in Q1, now holding shares worth approximately $6.99 million.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for CME Group, with Morgan Stanley adjusting their target from $301 to $304, maintaining an "overweight" rating.
• CME Group has announced a quarterly dividend of $1.25 per share, which translates to an annual dividend yield of 1.8%.

Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 10.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 26,334 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,560 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $6,986,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CME. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC increased its position in CME Group by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,379 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $366,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. OneAscent Financial Services LLC increased its position in CME Group by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 1,106 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $293,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its position in CME Group by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 5,828 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,546,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC increased its position in CME Group by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 1,342 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $356,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, Koshinski Asset Management Inc. increased its position in CME Group by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,522 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $934,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on CME. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Barclays set a $298.00 price objective on shares of CME Group and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $305.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $261.93.

CME Group Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $282.21 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $101.70 billion, a PE ratio of 27.32, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.44. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $203.77 and a 12-month high of $290.79. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $275.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $265.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.05. CME Group had a net margin of 58.48% and a return on equity of 14.60%. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.56 earnings per share. CME Group's revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.40%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total value of $81,951.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 24,767 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,765,601.39. This trade represents a 1.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.56, for a total transaction of $817,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,400 shares in the company, valued at $1,471,824. This trade represents a 35.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 5,750 shares of company stock valued at $1,576,294. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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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