L2 Asset Management LLC Takes Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

L2 Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 2,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $501,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $6,749,965,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,523,241,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in CME Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $867,313,000. Alphabet Inc. bought a new position in CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $769,376,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $629,771,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $277.32 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $99.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.23. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $218.31 and a twelve month high of $329.16. The company’s fifty day moving average is $251.75 and its 200 day moving average is $279.35. 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 (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.71 billion during 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.96 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 12.27 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on CME shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $324.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on CME Group from $267.00 to $245.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on CME Group from $323.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $286.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $288.56.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, Director William R. Shepard purchased 325 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $230.57 per share, for a total transaction of $74,935.25. Following the acquisition, the director owned 260,442 shares in the company, valued at $60,050,111.94. This trade represents a 0.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.