Portfolio Design Labs LLC Makes New Investment in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Portfolio Design Labs LLC acquired a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 9,326 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,058,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CME. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in CME Group by 416.7% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 21,365 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,599,000 after acquiring an additional 17,230 shares in the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. grew its stake in CME Group by 11.7% during the first quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 2,684 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $578,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in CME Group during the first quarter valued at $120,000. CreativeOne Wealth LLC purchased a new position in CME Group during the first quarter valued at $315,000. Finally, Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 1.1% during the first quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 61,467 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $13,233,000 after acquiring an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, September 26th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $221.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $224.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Sunday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total transaction of $163,610.46. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 13,261 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,877,504.39. This represents a 5.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total transaction of $1,629,381.87. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at $11,932,706.13. This represents a 12.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,621 shares of company stock valued at $3,441,063 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CME Group Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of CME traded down $1.66 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $228.00. The stock had a trading volume of 2,113,971 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,913,094. 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 $230.74. The business's fifty day moving average is $223.02 and its 200 day moving average is $210.69. The firm has a market cap of $82.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.15, a P/E/G ratio of 5.20 and a beta of 0.55.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. CME Group's quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.25 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.37%.

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.