Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Makes New $3.17 Million Investment in CME Group Inc. $CME

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 14,375 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,175,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CME. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 2,075.0% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in CME Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID raised its position in CME Group by 191.9% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $279.17 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $251.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $279.47. The company has a market cap of $100.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $218.31 and a 52 week high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 63.30%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.96 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.11%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director William R. Shepard acquired 325 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $230.57 per share, with a total value of $74,935.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 260,442 shares in the company, valued at $60,050,111.94. This represents a 0.12% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays lowered 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. UBS Group decreased their target price on CME Group from $310.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Bank of America lifted their target price on CME Group from $226.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $288.56.

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.