Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC Has $135.44 Million Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 58.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 613,828 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 226,306 shares during the period. CME Group makes up 1.0% of Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.17% of CME Group worth $135,441,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new stake in CME Group in the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in CME Group by 66.1% during the 2nd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 196 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 515.2% during the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 62.2% in the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In related news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total value of $89,168.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. This trade represents a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.64, for a total value of $1,019,880.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,053 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,131,291.92. The trade was a 14.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 8,028 shares of company stock worth $1,811,681 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CME Group Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ CME traded down $6.64 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $239.38. The company had a trading volume of 3,161,662 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,954,834. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $86.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.17, a PEG ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $227.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $212.77. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $249.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.25 EPS. The company's revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 EPS for the current year.

CME Group declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. CME Group's payout ratio is presently 48.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CME. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America lifted 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. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, 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.