Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 4.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $663,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 21.2% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 48,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,477,000 after buying an additional 8,443 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in CME Group by 429.1% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 47,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,231,000 after buying an additional 38,540 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management grew its holdings in CME Group by 12.2% in the 2nd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 30,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,156,000 after buying an additional 3,325 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its holdings in CME Group by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 99,947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,518,000 after buying an additional 4,454 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in CME Group by 197.2% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 6,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,306,000 after buying an additional 4,025 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME opened at $225.28 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $81.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.69, a PEG ratio of 5.26 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $222.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $210.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $230.36.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.25 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.23 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 48.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Sunday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total transaction of $163,610.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,877,504.39. This trade represents a 5.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total value of $1,629,381.87. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,932,706.13. This trade represents a 12.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,621 shares of company stock valued at $3,441,063 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CME. Redburn Atlantic cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. TD Cowen began coverage on CME Group in a report on Thursday, September 26th. They set a “hold” rating and a $221.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $224.47.

About CME Group

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.