Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC Grows Stake in CME Group Inc. $CME

Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 26,403 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $7,300,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 24.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,859,000 after purchasing an additional 1,381 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in CME Group by 63.0% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 105,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,867,000 after buying an additional 40,592 shares during the period. Sowell Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in CME Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $382,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its holdings in CME Group by 31.2% during the first quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 1,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $304,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its position in CME Group by 0.9% in the first quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 16,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,435,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $281.00 to $288.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on CME Group from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on CME Group from $276.00 to $266.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on CME Group from $313.00 to $304.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on CME Group from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $283.71.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $267.93 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $96.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.94, a PEG ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $267.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $271.38. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $213.94 and a 52 week high of $290.79.

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

CME Group Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at CME Group

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 transaction 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director William R. Shepard purchased 262 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $265.19 per share, for a total transaction of $69,479.78. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 258,459 shares in the company, valued at $68,540,742.21. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,043 shares of company stock worth $3,527,956 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.