Maple Capital Management Inc. Acquires 449 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Maple Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 64,337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 449 shares during the period. CME Group accounts for approximately 1.2% of Maple Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Maple Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $17,733,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CME. GQG Partners LLC grew its position in CME Group by 7,676.3% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 2,205,041 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $584,975,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176,685 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in CME Group by 370.5% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,653,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $704,068,000 after buying an additional 2,089,935 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in CME Group during the first quarter valued at about $218,842,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in CME Group by 185.5% in the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,244,608 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $330,182,000 after acquiring an additional 808,740 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Egerton Capital UK LLP lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 79.4% in the 1st quarter. Egerton Capital UK LLP now owns 1,730,194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $459,003,000 after acquiring an additional 765,773 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $266.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. UBS Group lowered their price objective on CME Group from $285.00 to $280.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Barclays dropped their target price on CME Group from $298.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on CME Group from $312.00 to $314.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $286.06.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, Director William R. Shepard acquired 262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $265.19 per share, for a total transaction of $69,479.78. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 258,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,540,742.21. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 379 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.83, for a total value of $98,475.57. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,470,463.64. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,043 shares of company stock worth $3,791,486. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $278.84 on Wednesday. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $222.56 and a twelve month high of $290.79. The stock has a market cap of $100.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.02, a P/E/G ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.38. 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 company’s fifty day moving average is $266.34 and its 200-day moving average is $272.60.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 58.84%.The firm’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.68 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 48.45%.

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.