Fulcrum Capital LLC Sells 964 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Fulcrum Capital LLC reduced its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.2% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 42,428 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 964 shares during the quarter. CME Group comprises about 2.5% of Fulcrum Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Fulcrum Capital LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $11,694,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,643,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,190,661,000 after acquiring an additional 400,737 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 9.7% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 4,113,991 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,091,401,000 after acquiring an additional 363,130 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 3.0% in the second quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,920,046 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $804,823,000 after acquiring an additional 84,005 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 29.9% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 10.3% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,783,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $735,539,000 after acquiring an additional 260,065 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.47, for a total transaction of $3,229,407.12. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 17,440 shares in the company, valued at $4,734,436.80. The trade was a 40.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director William R. Shepard bought 262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $265.19 per share, for a total transaction of $69,479.78. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 258,459 shares in the company, valued at $68,540,742.21. 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 13,043 shares of company stock valued at $3,527,956 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of CME stock opened at $271.45 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $213.94 and a 1-year high of $290.79. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $268.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $271.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $97.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 0.41.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 58.48%.The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.56 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 9th were paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 9th. CME Group’s payout ratio is 48.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on CME shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CME Group in a report on Wednesday. Barclays cut their price target on CME Group from $298.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on CME Group from $303.00 to $312.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, July 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on CME Group from $246.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $281.00.

About CME Group

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.