Freedom Investment Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. lessened its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 18.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,118 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 725 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $688,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 21.2% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 48,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,477,000 after buying an additional 8,443 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of CME Group by 429.1% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 47,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,231,000 after purchasing an additional 38,540 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management increased its position in shares of CME Group by 12.2% during the second quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 30,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,156,000 after purchasing an additional 3,325 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 197.2% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 6,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,306,000 after purchasing an additional 4,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 40.8% during the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,742 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,112,000 after purchasing an additional 3,112 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at $2,877,504.39. This trade represents a 5.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,131,291.92. The trade was a 14.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 8,028 shares of company stock worth $1,811,681. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Redburn Atlantic lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective 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. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley lifted 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 note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, September 26th. They set a “hold” rating and a $221.00 price objective on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $224.47.

CME Group Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of CME opened at $237.33 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $85.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.96, a PEG ratio of 5.29 and a beta of 0.55. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $238.12. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $225.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $211.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

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

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 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.