CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Newly Bought by Paragon Capital Management Ltd

Paragon Capital Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 2,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $674,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. grew its position in shares of CME Group by 61.3% in the third quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 170,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,674,000 after purchasing an additional 64,815 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Management Inc. purchased a new stake in CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $707,000. Acropolis Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 3rd quarter worth $581,000. Grove Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 5,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,320,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 139.3% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 28,067 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,353,000 after acquiring an additional 16,338 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.44, for a total transaction of $4,116,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 40,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,150,497.20. The trade was a 26.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director William R. Shepard purchased 293 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 25th. The shares were bought at an average price of $268.76 per share, for a total transaction of $78,746.68. Following the acquisition, the director owned 263,289 shares in the company, valued at $70,761,551.64. This trade represents a 0.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $226.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $286.00 to $270.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $316.00 to $323.00 in a report on Thursday, June 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on CME Group from $267.00 to $245.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on CME Group from $292.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $292.06.

CME Group Trading Up 0.9%

NASDAQ:CME traded up $2.62 on Friday, reaching $279.06. 994,895 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,524,912. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.24. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $218.31 and a 52-week high of $329.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business has a fifty day moving average of $271.81 and a 200-day moving average of $271.19.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.08. CME Group had a net margin of 63.30% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.96 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th were paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 44.11%.

CME Group Company Profile

CME Group Inc operates global derivatives marketplaces that enable customers to manage risk and trade futures and options contracts. Its exchanges offer products linked to interest rates, equity indexes, foreign currencies, agricultural commodities, energy, metals and other asset classes.

The company also provides central counterparty clearing, settlement and related risk-management services for transactions conducted on its markets. In addition, CME Group offers market data, benchmark products and technology services that support trading, analysis and connectivity for financial institutions, businesses, professional traders and other market participants.

CME Group’s history includes the Chicago Board of Trade, founded in 1848, and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, established in 1898.