CME Group Inc. $CME Holdings Boosted by Balefire LLC

Balefire LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 81.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,130 shares during the period. Balefire LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,242,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in CME Group during the second quarter valued at $6,749,965,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in CME Group by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,144,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,408,747,000 after purchasing an additional 56,725 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in CME Group by 39.1% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,019,944 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,187,290,000 after purchasing an additional 1,130,587 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $867,313,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,074,773 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $839,659,000 after purchasing an additional 208,318 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America lifted their target price on CME Group from $226.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on CME Group from $330.00 to $337.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on CME Group from $267.00 to $245.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on CME Group from $329.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $292.06.

CME Group Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:CME traded up $4.12 during trading on Friday, hitting $280.56. The company had a trading volume of 2,593,085 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,533,263. The stock has a market cap of $100.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $271.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $271.19. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $218.31 and a one year high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 63.30%.CME Group’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.96 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, Director Elizabeth A. Cook sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.11, for a total value of $140,055.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 17,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,018,450.76. This represents a 2.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.44, for a total value of $4,116,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 40,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,150,497.20. This trade represents a 26.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

About CME Group

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.