Brophy Wealth Management LLC Purchases New Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Brophy Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,700 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $596,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 21.2% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 48,205 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $9,477,000 after acquiring an additional 8,443 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management grew its position 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 worth $6,156,000 after purchasing an additional 3,325 shares during the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 58.4% in the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 613,828 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $135,441,000 after purchasing an additional 226,306 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 40.8% during the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,742 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,112,000 after buying an additional 3,112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 149.4% during the second quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 23,759 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,671,000 after buying an additional 14,234 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME traded up $2.19 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $238.91. The company had a trading volume of 703,198 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,954,412. The company's 50-day moving average is $228.20 and its 200-day moving average is $213.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $86.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.89, a P/E/G ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 0.56. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $249.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.25 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 EPS for the current year.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a $5.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This is a positive change from CME Group's previous dividend of $2.50. CME Group's payout ratio is 48.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,877,504.39. This trade represents a 5.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total value of $89,168.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,587,935.64. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,028 shares of company stock valued at $1,811,681. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on CME. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $244.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $226.20.

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.