Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC Takes $683,000 Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $683,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Asset Dedication LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 64.9% in the 4th quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 2,075.0% during the first 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 during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 191.9% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $269.80 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 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 has a 50-day simple moving average of $250.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $280.22.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.08. CME Group had a net margin of 63.30% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.96 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 12.27 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors 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 payout ratio is 44.11%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, Director William R. Shepard acquired 325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $230.57 per share, with a total value of $74,935.25. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 260,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,050,111.94. The trade was a 0.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total value of $1,752,536.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,438,860.26. This represents a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. 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 report on Monday, July 6th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $316.00 to $323.00 in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen lowered CME Group from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut CME Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $291.81.

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.