D.A. Davidson & CO. Has $6.66 Million Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 30,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $6,664,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group in the third quarter worth $26,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in CME Group by 66.1% in the 2nd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC raised its stake in CME Group by 515.2% during the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its holdings in CME Group by 62.2% in the third quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the business’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 value of $89,168.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 25,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,587,935.64. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total transaction of $226,960.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,589 shares in the company, valued at $2,403,279.44. The trade was a 8.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 15,621 shares of company stock valued at $3,441,063. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CME Group Stock Up 1.3 %

CME stock opened at $237.33 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $85.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.96, a P/E/G ratio of 5.29 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $224.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $211.56. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $238.12.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.25 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 48.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on CME Group from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued 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, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four 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.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $224.47.

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.