Apeiron RIA LLC Acquires New Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

Apeiron RIA LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 2,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $724,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 2,075.0% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. First Community Trust NA bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. North Point Portfolio Managers Corp OH bought a new stake in CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Main Street Group LTD purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, CEO Terrence Duffy sold 15,000 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 40,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,150,497.20. This represents a 26.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director William Shepard bought 293 shares of the 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 purchase, the director directly owned 263,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $70,761,551.64. This trade represents a 0.11% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Up 2.8%

CME traded up $7.59 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $277.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 978,638 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,517,471. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $218.31 and a 1 year high of $329.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.57, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.24. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $271.63 and its 200-day moving average is $271.41.

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

CME Group Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $316.00 to $323.00 in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $324.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of CME Group from $267.00 to $245.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on CME Group in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $301.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of CME Group from $329.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $291.62.

CME Group 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.