RFG Advisory LLC Buys 4,617 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

RFG Advisory LLC boosted its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 208.2% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,617 shares during the quarter. RFG Advisory LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,509,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 2,075.0% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in CME Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Bayban purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of CME opened at $275.54 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $263.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $277.42. The company has a market cap of $99.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $218.31 and a twelve month high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.08. CME Group had a net margin of 63.30% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The company had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.96 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.27 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group lowered their target price on CME Group from $310.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $316.00 to $323.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of CME Group from $267.00 to $245.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $289.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard bought 325 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $230.57 per share, for a total transaction of $74,935.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 260,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,050,111.94. This trade represents a 0.12% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 15,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.44, for a total value of $4,116,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 40,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,150,497.20. This trade represents a 26.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About CME Group

CME Group Inc operates global derivatives marketplaces that provide trading, clearing and settlement services for a broad range of financial and commodity products. Its exchange platforms enable participants to manage risk, discover prices and gain exposure to asset classes including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, metals, agricultural commodities and digital assets.

The company’s principal marketplaces include CME, CBOT, NYMEX and COMEX. Products are offered through futures and options contracts, with electronic trading available through CME Globex as well as exchange-based and privately negotiated transactions.