Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Has $663,000 Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $663,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in 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 worth $3,403,557,000 after acquiring an additional 3,069,806 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in CME Group by 11.3% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,283,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,038,676,000 after buying an additional 537,758 shares during the last quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd grew its position in shares of CME Group by 1.1% in the first quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 4,009,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $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 last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of 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 institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $11,932,706.13. This trade represents a 12.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total transaction of $89,168.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,587,935.64. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,621 shares of company stock worth $3,441,063 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $219.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $224.47.

CME Group Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ:CME opened at $225.28 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $230.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $81.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.69, a P/E/G ratio of 5.26 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $222.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $210.26.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. CME Group’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.25 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.37%.

CME Group Company Profile

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.