BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Grows Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 278,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,923 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $61,369,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. CreativeOne Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $315,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 75.7% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 547,913 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $117,960,000 after buying an additional 236,017 shares during the period. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 93.6% during the 1st quarter. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC now owns 2,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $490,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $100,000. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 99,947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,518,000 after buying an additional 4,454 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ CME opened at $226.96 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $81.79 billion, a PE ratio of 23.87, a P/E/G ratio of 5.30 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $230.74. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $223.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $210.92.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The company’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.25 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on CME. Redburn Atlantic downgraded 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. Barclays increased their price objective on CME Group from $219.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $224.47.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total transaction of $1,629,381.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at $11,932,706.13. This trade represents a 12.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $312,062.88. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,652,298. This trade represents a 15.89 % 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 in the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.