CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Purchased by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 5.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 144,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,945 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in CME Group were worth $31,874,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in CME Group by 66.1% in the 2nd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 515.2% during the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 62.2% during the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total transaction of $312,062.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,275 shares in the company, valued at $1,652,298. The trade was a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total transaction of $226,960.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,403,279.44. The trade was a 8.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,028 shares of company stock worth $1,811,681. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $219.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $224.47.

CME Group Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $237.33 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $238.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.52 billion, a PE ratio of 24.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.29 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $225.05 and its 200-day moving average is $211.73.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.37%.

CME Group 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.