Park Avenue Securities LLC Grows Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 32.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 28,834 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,005 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $7,791,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CME. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in CME Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,571,447,000. Viking Global Investors LP purchased a new position in CME Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $164,648,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,176,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,695,313,000 after purchasing an additional 532,549 shares during the last quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd grew its position in shares of CME Group by 131,625.5% in the second quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 486,067 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $133,970,000 after purchasing an additional 485,698 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HRT Financial LP acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $127,103,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Down 0.9%

NASDAQ:CME opened at $266.83 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $273.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $271.99. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $225.46 and a 52 week high of $290.79. 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 $96.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.27.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.05. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 58.84%.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 company posted $2.68 EPS. CME Group’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th were issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 12th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total transaction of $6,738,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 65,804 shares in the company, valued at $17,737,468.20. This represents a 27.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Harold Eugene Jr. Ford sold 1,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.53, for a total transaction of $263,530.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $287,511.23. This represents a 47.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on CME. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on CME Group from $313.00 to $304.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 10th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on CME Group from $288.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $297.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of CME Group from $264.00 to $263.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $201.00 to $209.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Eight 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $291.06.

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.