Moran Wealth Management LLC Has $19.89 Million Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Moran Wealth Management LLC lessened its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 73,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,509 shares during the period. Moran Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $19,887,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Childress Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 23.8% during the 3rd quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,016 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $274,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 32.1% during the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 28,834 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,791,000 after purchasing an additional 7,005 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in CME Group by 1.3% during the third quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 17,158 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,636,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 1.7% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 127,327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,403,000 after purchasing an additional 2,167 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kathmere Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $309,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $266.83 on Thursday. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $225.46 and a 52 week high of $290.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.22 billion, a PE ratio of 25.86, a PEG ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $273.93 and its 200-day moving average is $271.99.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.05. CME Group had a net margin of 58.84% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.68 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th were issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 12th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on CME Group from $314.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Argus dropped their price objective on CME Group from $308.00 to $295.00 in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Citigroup upgraded shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $275.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $307.00 to $311.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $252.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $291.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Harold Eugene Jr. Ford sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.53, for a total value of $263,530.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $287,511.23. This trade represents a 47.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director William R. Shepard bought 251 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $278.37 per share, with a total value of $69,870.87. Following the transaction, the director owned 258,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $72,017,102.70. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Company Profile

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world’s largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company’s core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.