Signaturefd LLC Increases Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 16.0% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,329 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 871 shares during the quarter. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,744,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in CME Group by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,643,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,190,661,000 after acquiring an additional 400,737 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its holdings in CME Group by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 4,113,991 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,091,401,000 after acquiring an additional 363,130 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of CME Group by 29.9% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,818,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $747,744,000 after acquiring an additional 648,591 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,783,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $735,539,000 after acquiring an additional 260,065 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 11.9% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,727,809 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $723,660,000 after purchasing an additional 290,147 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group reduced their price target on CME Group from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 8th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on CME Group from $246.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup upgraded CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $275.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, July 13th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $268.14.

CME Group Stock Up 0.6%

CME stock opened at $270.28 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $97.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 0.43. The company’s 50 day moving average is $270.87 and its 200 day moving average is $270.96. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $213.94 and a 1-year high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 58.48%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.56 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 9th were issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was 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%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director William R. Shepard bought 262 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $265.19 per share, with a total value of $69,479.78. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 258,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,540,742.21. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.00, for a total transaction of $102,704.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 7,851 shares in the company, valued at $2,056,962. This trade represents a 4.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 13,043 shares of company stock worth $3,527,956. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CME Group Company 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.