Strategy Asset Managers LLC Buys New Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Strategy Asset Managers LLC bought a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,389 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $646,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Caldwell Trust Co lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 116.3% during the third quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 93 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Financial Consulate Inc. purchased a new stake in CME Group in the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Corundum Trust Company INC purchased a new stake in CME Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total value of $6,738,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 65,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,737,468.20. The trade was a 27.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director William R. Shepard purchased 251 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $278.37 per share, with a total value of $69,870.87. Following the acquisition, the director owned 258,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $72,017,102.70. This represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of CME opened at $289.06 on Monday. 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 company has a market cap of $104.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.27. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $233.66 and a twelve month high of $291.76. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $275.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $272.30.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th were given a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 12th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $282.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on CME Group from $296.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Argus dropped their target price on shares of CME Group from $308.00 to $295.00 in a report on Friday, October 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $292.18.

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.