Spartan Wealth Advisory Services LLC Invests $1.67 Million in CME Group Inc. $CME

Spartan Wealth Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 5,665 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,673,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Asset Dedication LLC increased its holdings in CME Group by 64.9% in the fourth quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 11,523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,147,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lifted its holdings in CME Group by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $243,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 1,118 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $305,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Endowment Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of CME Group by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. now owns 895 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $244,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total transaction of $1,752,536.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 27,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,438,860.26. The trade was a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director William R. Shepard purchased 325 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $230.57 per share, with a total value of $74,935.25. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 260,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,050,111.94. The trade was a 0.12% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Stock Down 0.5%

NASDAQ:CME opened at $245.05 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.80 billion, a PE ratio of 20.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $258.54 and a 200-day moving average of $282.12. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $218.31 and a 52 week high of $329.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.80 EPS. Analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 12.18 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CME. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on CME Group from $266.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $353.00 to $324.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 10th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn raised shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $316.00 to $323.00 in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $292.12.

CME Group Profile

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world’s largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company’s core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.