Magnetar Financial LLC Has $4.67 Million Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Magnetar Financial LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 149.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 23,759 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 14,234 shares during the quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $4,671,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Aveo Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $226,000. 9258 Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,148 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $663,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $547,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 342.4% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 176,892 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $37,253,000 after purchasing an additional 136,905 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 49,229 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $10,368,000 after purchasing an additional 2,441 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

CME Group Stock Up 1.3 %

CME traded up $2.70 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $215.86. 1,550,584 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,959,322. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $77.72 billion, a PE ratio of 24.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.85 and a beta of 0.55. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $223.80. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $208.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $207.38.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 56.98% and a return on equity of 12.82%. CME Group's revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.30 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on CME shares. Bank of America downgraded CME Group from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $212.00 to $177.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on CME Group from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $209.73.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Sunday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total value 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. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Sunday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total value of $163,610.46. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at $2,877,504.39. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total value of $1,629,381.87. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,932,706.13. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.