Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Purchases 14,620 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 14,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,830,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $612,000. Focus Financial Network Inc. acquired a new position in CME Group during the third quarter worth $1,513,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in CME Group during the second quarter worth $53,671,000. Haverford Trust Co acquired a new position in CME Group during the second quarter worth $13,818,000. Finally, Bowie Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in CME Group in the second quarter worth $22,991,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. CLSA set a $367.00 target price on CME Group in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $315.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $286.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $330.00 price target (up from $295.00) on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $292.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.44.

CME Group Trading Up 1.5%

NASDAQ:CME opened at $309.09 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $110.63 billion, a PE ratio of 25.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $218.31 and a 52-week high of $329.16. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $283.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $281.05.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $3.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.99 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 63.33% and a return on equity of 16.23%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.68 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 11th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 11th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 42.66%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Julie Winkler sold 10,079 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.15, for a total transaction of $3,075,606.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 21,482 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,555,232.30. The trade was a 31.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Daniel Kaye sold 532 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.17, for a total transaction of $161,818.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,313 shares in the company, valued at $1,311,885.21. This trade represents a 10.98% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 33,511 shares of company stock valued at $9,714,580 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Profile

CME Group operates a global marketplace for derivatives and other financial products. Through its exchanges—CME, CBOT, NYMEX and COMEX—it offers futures and options contracts tied to interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural products and metals. The company also provides clearing and settlement services, market data and related products. Its electronic trading platform, CME Globex, supports access to its markets by participants around the world, alongside its open-outcry and privately negotiated trading services.