Two Sigma Advisers LP Has $492.07 Million Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 11.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,230,100 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 237,800 shares during the quarter. CME Group accounts for approximately 1.2% of Two Sigma Advisers LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Two Sigma Advisers LP owned about 0.62% of CME Group worth $492,072,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CME. Taika Capital LP raised its stake in CME Group by 19.8% in the third quarter. Taika Capital LP now owns 4,320 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $953,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares in the last quarter. Stansberry Asset Management LLC raised its stake in CME Group by 0.8% in the third quarter. Stansberry Asset Management LLC now owns 41,645 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $9,189,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp raised its stake in CME Group by 40.6% in the third quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,594 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $352,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in CME Group by 29.7% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 20,648 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,556,000 after purchasing an additional 4,732 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP raised its stake in CME Group by 354.0% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,370 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $523,000 after purchasing an additional 1,848 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Barclays boosted their target price on CME Group from $219.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup boosted their target price on CME Group from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $224.47.

CME Group Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of CME Group stock traded down $4.41 on Friday, reaching $241.61. 1,682,273 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,952,221. The company has a market capitalization of $87.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.56. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $249.02. The firm's 50-day moving average is $227.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $212.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.25 earnings per share. CME Group's revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

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 given a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. CME Group's payout ratio is currently 48.37%.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other news, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total transaction of $226,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,589 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,403,279.44. This trade represents a 8.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $312,062.88. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,275 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,652,298. This represents a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 8,028 shares of company stock valued at $1,811,681. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.