CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Holdings Raised by Geode Capital Management LLC

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,284,745 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 142,692 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.30% of CME Group worth $1,823,964,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brophy Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in CME Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $596,000. Vestcor Inc lifted its position in CME Group by 2.8% during the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 14,478 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,195,000 after buying an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in CME Group by 10.3% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 96,069 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $21,198,000 after buying an additional 8,968 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in CME Group by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 354,421 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $78,203,000 after buying an additional 58,221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 188.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock traded down $4.89 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $234.30. The company had a trading volume of 3,689,291 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,967,903. The stock has a market cap of $84.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.04, a PEG ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 0.56. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $228.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $213.33. 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 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $249.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) 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 business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.25 EPS. The business's revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group declared that its board has approved a stock 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a dividend of $5.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. This is an increase from CME Group's previous dividend of $2.50. CME Group's payout ratio is 48.37%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the company's 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at $2,877,504.39. This represents a 5.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $89,168.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 90 days, insiders have sold 8,028 shares of company stock valued at $1,811,681. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays raised their target price on CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on CME Group from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $226.20.

CME Group Company 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.