Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Boosts Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 87.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 530 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $251,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 24.1% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,809,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,403,557,000 after buying an additional 3,069,806 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 11.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,283,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,038,676,000 after purchasing an additional 537,758 shares during the period. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.1% during the first quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 4,009,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $863,112,000 after purchasing an additional 43,293 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of CME Group by 3.2% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 3,029,145 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $595,530,000 after purchasing an additional 94,302 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in CME Group by 6.6% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,835,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $557,371,000 after purchasing an additional 176,004 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on CME shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $222.73.

CME Group Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of CME opened at $227.09 on Wednesday. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $230.36. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $219.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $209.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $81.77 billion, a PE ratio of 25.84, a P/E/G ratio of 7.76 and a beta of 0.55.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.82% and a net margin of 56.98%. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.25 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.33%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total transaction of $1,629,381.87. Following the sale, the director now owns 55,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,932,706.13. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total value of $1,629,381.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 55,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,932,706.13. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total value of $163,610.46. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at $2,877,504.39. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 9,721 shares of company stock worth $2,105,055. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About CME Group

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.