Walter Public Investments Inc. Increases Stock Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Walter Public Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 746.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,860 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 20,160 shares during the period. Walter Public Investments Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $6,752,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CME. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 345.2% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 237,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $64,965,000 after buying an additional 184,459 shares in the last quarter. FLC Capital Advisors acquired a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,122,000. First Bank & Trust purchased a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,325,000. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. boosted its holdings in CME Group by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 140,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,289,000 after acquiring an additional 3,931 shares during the period. Finally, MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in CME Group by 138.8% in the 4th quarter. MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. now owns 7,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,953,000 after acquiring an additional 4,152 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total transaction of $10,447,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 55,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,606,111.30. This trade represents a 38.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total value of $1,752,536.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,438,860.26. This represents a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $343.00 to $316.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of CME Group from $362.00 to $353.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. UBS Group reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of CME Group in a report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of CME Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 13th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $300.94.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME Group stock opened at $236.60 on Friday. 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. The stock has a market cap of $85.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $267.17 and a 200-day moving average of $284.28.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.25. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.80 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 44.37%.

About CME Group

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.