Advisors Capital Management LLC Has $27.54 Million Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Advisors Capital Management LLC has increased its holdings in CME Group Inc. by 0.9%, now owning 103,790 shares valued at approximately $27.54 million.
• CME Group announced a quarterly dividend of $1.25 per share, translating to an annual yield of 1.9%, with the ex-dividend date set for September 9th.
• The company's quarterly earnings report revealed an EPS of $2.96, surpassing analyst expectations and reflecting a 10.4% year-over-year revenue growth.

Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 0.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 103,790 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 972 shares during the quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $27,535,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 400,737 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 363,130 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of CME Group by 29.9% during the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,818,590 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $747,744,000 after purchasing an additional 648,591 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 260,065 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 11.9% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $259.91 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $93.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.16, a P/E/G ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 0.43. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $274.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $270.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.38 and a fifty-two week high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 58.48% and a return on equity of 14.60%. CME Group's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.56 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CME. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Barclays set a $298.00 price objective on shares of CME Group and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $260.60.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.47, for a total transaction of $3,229,407.12. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 17,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,734,436.80. This trade represents a 40.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director William R. Shepard bought 256 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were bought at an average price of $270.53 per share, for a total transaction of $69,255.68. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 258,196 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,849,763.88. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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.

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