Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. Takes Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. has acquired 5,466 shares of CME Group Inc. valued at approximately $1.5 million, making it 1.2% of its investment portfolio.
• Several other institutional investors have increased their holdings in CME Group, with Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG growing its position by 29% in the last quarter.
• CME Group recently reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $2.96 for the quarter, surpassing expectations and reflecting a 10.4% increase in revenue year-over-year.

Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,466 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,507,000. CME Group comprises approximately 1.2% of Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its position in CME Group by 29.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 86,941 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $20,190,000 after buying an additional 19,533 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 3,682 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $855,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 125.7% during the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 17,072 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,965,000 after acquiring an additional 9,508 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter worth $5,026,000. Finally, Waverly Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 32.2% in the 4th quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 10,827 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,514,000 after purchasing an additional 2,637 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director William R. Shepard purchased 256 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $270.53 per share, with a total value of $69,255.68. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 258,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at $69,849,763.88. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 379 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.83, for a total value of $98,475.57. Following the sale, the insider owned 9,508 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,470,463.64. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,651 shares of company stock worth $3,425,252. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group lowered their target price on CME Group from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays set a $298.00 price objective on CME Group and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. 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 report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Four investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $260.60.

CME Group Trading Up 1.0%

NASDAQ CME opened at $262.40 on Thursday. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $212.38 and a one year high of $290.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $94.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.70 and a beta of 0.43. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $272.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $270.49.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.56 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be given a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. CME Group's payout ratio is presently 48.40%.

CME Group Company Profile

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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