LPL Financial LLC Boosts Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 181,373 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,178 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned 0.05% of CME Group worth $35,658,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CME. Gold Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 66.1% during the 2nd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 515.2% during the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $216.99 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $78.13 billion, a PE ratio of 24.69, a P/E/G ratio of 8.85 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $205.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $207.50. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $223.80.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.82% and a net margin of 56.98%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total transaction of $1,629,381.87. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 55,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,932,706.13. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the subject of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays increased their price target on CME Group from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on CME Group from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Bank of America lowered CME Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $212.00 to $177.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $209.73.

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.