Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC Raises Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 12.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,351 shares during the quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $8,444,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CME. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 345.2% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 237,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $64,965,000 after purchasing an additional 184,459 shares during the last quarter. FLC Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,122,000. First Bank & Trust bought a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,325,000. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. lifted its holdings in CME Group by 2.9% during 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 buying an additional 3,931 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total value of $10,447,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 55,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,606,111.30. This represents a 38.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director William R. Shepard bought 325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $230.57 per share, with a total value of $74,935.25. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 260,442 shares in the company, valued at $60,050,111.94. This represents a 0.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

CME opened at $240.27 on Monday. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $218.31 and a 12 month high of $329.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $87.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.25. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $262.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $283.26.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced 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 return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The company 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 posted $2.80 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 12.24 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 44.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on CME shares. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on CME Group from $267.00 to $245.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $316.00 to $323.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of CME Group from $342.00 to $322.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $293.59.

Key CME Group News

Here are the key news stories impacting CME Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: CME announced new products aimed at expanding trading activity, including Treasury LINK for U.S. Treasury spread trading and a new agriculture index that offers a unified benchmark for the global farm economy. CME Group to launch Treasury LINK for enhanced US Treasury spread trading CME Group’s New Agriculture Index Delivers Unified Price Benchmark for the Global Farm Economy
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley kept an overweight rating but lowered its price target on CME to $324 from $353, while Barclays cut its target to $270 and moved to equal weight, signaling reduced near-term expectations but not a fundamentally bearish view. Morgan Stanley cuts CME price target Barclays cuts CME price target
• Negative Sentiment: The CFTC blocked CME’s plan to fast-track 24/7 crude oil futures trading, a setback that could limit a potentially important new revenue stream and raises regulatory risk around product innovation. CFTC to block CME’s plan for 24/7 crude oil futures trading CFTC Blocks for Now CME’s Plan to Offer 24/7 Oil Futures
• Negative Sentiment: Reports also pointed to weaker trading volumes and rising competition weighing on CME Group, which could pressure transaction-based revenue growth if activity remains soft. Competition And Weaker Trading Volumes Are Weighing On CME Group (CME) Stock

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.