Philadelphia Trust Co. Buys 145 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Philadelphia Trust Co. grew its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 10.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the quarter. Philadelphia Trust Co.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $424,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 122.2% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its position in CME Group by 612.5% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in CME Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in CME Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on CME. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays set a $298.00 price objective on shares of CME Group and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $261.93.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $273.92 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $275.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $267.13. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $204.16 and a twelve month high of $290.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.72 billion, a PE ratio of 26.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 0.44.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.05. CME Group had a net margin of 58.48% and a return on equity of 14.60%. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.56 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.40%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.50, for a total transaction of $108,225.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 6,708 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,861,470. This trade represents a 5.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director William R. Shepard acquired 256 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were bought at an average price of $270.53 per share, for a total transaction of $69,255.68. Following the transaction, the director owned 258,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,849,763.88. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,450 shares of company stock worth $676,663 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.