Global Assets Advisory LLC Makes New Investment in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 144,712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $31,155,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,451,194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,044,821,000 after buying an additional 215,044 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,589,867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,072,654,000 after buying an additional 1,172,575 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 12,739,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,683,012,000 after buying an additional 50,626 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,667,384 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,193,551,000 after buying an additional 23,583 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its position in CME Group by 31.5% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,858,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $972,863,000 after purchasing an additional 1,163,103 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on CME shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded CME Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $206.00 to $187.00 in a research report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (down previously from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Argus raised their price objective on CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $187.00 price objective (up previously from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $215.90.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $195.08 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a market cap of $70.24 billion, a PE ratio of 22.19, a P/E/G ratio of 5.14 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $206.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $209.09. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $177.97 and a fifty-two week high of $223.80.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.45% and a net margin of 56.84%. The firm had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 9.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.33%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.91, for a total transaction of $8,436,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 67,455 shares in the company, valued at $14,226,934.05. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other CME Group news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.44, for a total transaction of $586,320.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,399,936.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.91, for a total value of $8,436,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 67,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,226,934.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,290 shares of company stock worth $11,393,700 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Profile

CME Group Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates contract markets for the trading of futures and options on futures contracts worldwide. It offers futures and options products based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, agricultural commodities, energy, and metals, as well as fixed income and foreign currency trading services.