Cinctive Capital Management LP Acquires New Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Cinctive Capital opened a new position in CME Group during Q3, buying 7,318 shares valued at roughly $1.98 million as institutional ownership in CME remains high (87.75%).
• CME slightly beat quarterly EPS estimates ($2.77 vs. $2.75) with revenue up 8.1% year-over-year, and raised its quarterly dividend to $1.30 (annualized $5.20, 1.7% yield; ex-dividend March 10); analysts have a consensus "Hold" with an average price target of $304.06.

Cinctive Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 7,318 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,977,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Caldwell Trust Co boosted its position in CME Group by 116.3% during the third quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 93 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA acquired a new position in CME Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Financial Consulate Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Corundum Trust Company INC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.90, for a total transaction of $91,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 24,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,647,194.10. The trade was a 1.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director William R. Shepard purchased 251 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $278.37 per share, with a total value of $69,870.87. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 258,710 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $72,017,102.70. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 5,248 shares of company stock valued at $1,616,700 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of CME stock opened at $313.83 on Tuesday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $296.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $279.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $248.53 and a twelve month high of $329.16. The company has a market capitalization of $113.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.12, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.24.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.75 by $0.02. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.65% and a net margin of 62.45%.The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.52 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. This is an increase from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. CME Group's payout ratio is currently 46.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on CME. Bank of America boosted their price target on CME Group from $201.00 to $209.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $305.00 to $328.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $266.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $333.00 to $347.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $304.00 to $312.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $304.06.

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.

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