Van ECK Associates Corp Has $17.64 Million Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

Van ECK Associates Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 79,865 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,218 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in CME Group were worth $17,637,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan lifted its stake in CME Group by 2.7% in the second quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan now owns 57,324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,659,000 after buying an additional 1,516 shares in the last quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of CME Group by 4.8% during the second quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. now owns 117,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,873,000 after acquiring an additional 5,398 shares in the last quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 2.7% during the second quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. now owns 9,762 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,156,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 24.6% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,815,817 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $400,987,000 after acquiring an additional 358,018 shares during the period. Finally, Archer Investment Corp bought a new stake in CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $338,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $285.80 on Monday. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $218.31 and a twelve month high of $329.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $102.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $253.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $278.93.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 63.30% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The firm’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.96 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on CME shares. TD Cowen lowered their target price on CME Group from $323.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised CME Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. UBS Group cut their target price on CME Group from $310.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on CME Group from $324.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $288.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, Director William R. Shepard bought 325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $230.57 per share, with a total value of $74,935.25. Following the acquisition, the director owned 260,442 shares in the company, valued at $60,050,111.94. This trade represents a 0.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Profile

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.