SageView Advisory Group LLC Has $2.98 Million Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

SageView Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 165.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,020 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,866 shares during the quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $2,977,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Caldwell Trust Co grew its holdings in CME Group by 116.3% during the 3rd quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 93 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Financial Consulate Inc. bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the second quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Corundum Trust Company INC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the third quarter worth $30,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $306.34 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $293.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $278.26. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $248.53 and a one year high of $329.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $110.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.45, a PEG ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.24.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $0.02. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.65% and a net margin of 62.45%.The business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.52 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total value of $6,738,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 65,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,737,468.20. This trade represents a 27.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $224,400.00. Following the sale, the director owned 2,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $809,700. This trade represents a 21.70% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 30,248 shares of company stock worth $8,355,450 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on CME Group from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Erste Group Bank upgraded CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. TD Cowen increased their price target on CME Group from $305.00 to $328.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Raymond James Financial lowered their price objective on CME Group from $311.00 to $310.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price objective on CME Group from $300.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $302.71.

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.