Simplicity Wealth LLC Has $599,000 Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

Simplicity Wealth LLC lifted its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 140.0% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $599,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CME. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Webster Bank N. A. raised its position in shares of CME Group by 206.9% in the 2nd quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 89 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 122.2% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 84.3% during the 2nd quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 612.5% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Trading Up 0.6%

CME Group stock opened at $263.60 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $269.52 and a 200-day moving average of $271.10. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $213.94 and a one year high of $290.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $95.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.52, a P/E/G ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 0.41.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.05. CME Group had a net margin of 58.48% and a return on equity of 14.60%. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.68 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.56 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 9th were paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.40%.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 392 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.00, for a total value of $102,704.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 7,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,056,962. This trade represents a 4.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.47, for a total transaction of $3,229,407.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 17,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,734,436.80. This represents a 40.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,043 shares of company stock valued at $3,527,956 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on CME. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CME Group in a report on Saturday, September 27th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of CME Group from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 8th. Barclays set a $298.00 target price on shares of CME Group and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $275.00 to $300.00 in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $276.67.

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.