CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Purchased by Sanctuary Advisors LLC

Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 6.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,732 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,252 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $14,984,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 2,075.0% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 64.9% during the 4th quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME Group stock opened at $246.27 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $259.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $282.38. The company has a market capitalization of $89.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.01, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.25. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $218.31 and a fifty-two week high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The business’s revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.80 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were issued a $1.30 dividend. 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 44.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded CME Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday. Barclays dropped their price target on CME Group from $316.00 to $270.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $356.00 to $349.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of CME Group from $353.00 to $324.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of CME Group from $329.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $292.12.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, Director William R. Shepard acquired 325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $230.57 per share, with a total value of $74,935.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 260,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,050,111.94. This represents a 0.12% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares in the company, valued at $8,438,860.26. The trade was a 17.20% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CME Group Company 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.