Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 4.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 419,532 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 17,508 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of CME Group worth $92,570,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $274,000. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 4,592 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $989,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 1st quarter valued at $1,455,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 24.5% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,596 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,205,000 after acquiring an additional 1,101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 312.2% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 56,768 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $12,222,000 after purchasing an additional 42,996 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on CME shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays increased their price target on CME Group from $219.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $222.73.

CME Group Stock Up 1.6 %

CME stock traded up $3.62 during trading on Friday, reaching $225.66. The stock had a trading volume of 1,798,000 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,483,283. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $230.36. The company's 50 day moving average is $221.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $209.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company has a market capitalization of $81.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.73, a P/E/G ratio of 5.56 and a beta of 0.55.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.25 earnings per share. CME Group's revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.23 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.37%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total transaction of $89,168.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 25,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,587,935.64. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the company'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 sale, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,877,504.39. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,621 shares of company stock worth $3,441,063. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company 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.