Syntax Research Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 11,513 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,540,000. CME Group accounts for 1.7% of Syntax Research Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 58.4% in the 3rd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 613,828 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $135,441,000 after buying an additional 226,306 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 149.4% in the second quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 23,759 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,671,000 after acquiring an additional 14,234 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in CME Group by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,826,501 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $403,017,000 after purchasing an additional 283,171 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 39.7% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 204,238 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $45,065,000 after purchasing an additional 58,037 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in CME Group by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,028,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $224,432,000 after purchasing an additional 303,169 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.
Insider Transactions at CME Group
In other CME Group news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of the business'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 transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $312,062.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,275 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,652,298. This trade represents a 15.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,274 shares of company stock valued at $1,648,071 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on CME Group from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America increased their target price on CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on CME Group in a report on Thursday, September 26th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $221.00 price objective for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $226.20.
View Our Latest Research Report on CME
CME Group Stock Performance
Shares of NASDAQ CME traded up $1.09 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $237.08. 2,864,892 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,967,845. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $85.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $229.75 and a 200 day moving average of $214.34. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $249.02.
CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.25 EPS. CME Group's revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current year.
CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase 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 repurchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.
CME Group Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a dividend of $5.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This is a boost from CME Group's previous dividend of $2.50. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.37%.
About CME Group
(
Free Report)
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.
See Also
Before you consider CME Group, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and CME Group wasn't on the list.
While CME Group currently has a "Hold" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
MarketBeat has just released its list of 20 stocks that Wall Street analysts hate. These companies may appear to have good fundamentals, but top analysts smell something seriously rotten. Are any of these companies lurking around your portfolio? Find out by clicking the link below.
Get This Free Report
