Churchill Financial Advisors LLC Makes New $1.52 Million Investment in CME Group Inc. $CME

Churchill Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 5,548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,515,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,895,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,802,366,000 after buying an additional 588,509 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,812,914 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,300,450,000 after buying an additional 130,848 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,006,932,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,381,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $913,548,000 after buying an additional 20,213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 23.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,830,323 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $764,725,000 after buying an additional 528,358 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total value of $1,752,536.39. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,438,860.26. This trade represents a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total value of $10,447,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,630 shares in the company, valued at $16,606,111.30. This trade represents a 38.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 44,044 shares of company stock worth $13,297,507. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on CME Group from $362.00 to $353.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on CME Group from $342.00 to $322.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods initiated coverage on CME Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $305.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on CME Group from $295.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $305.29.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME Group stock opened at $291.23 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $296.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $289.29. The company has a market capitalization of $105.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.85, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.23. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $257.17 and a fifty-two week high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The business had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.80 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.37%.

About CME Group

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world’s largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company’s core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.