CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Purchased by Bahl & Gaynor Inc.

Key Points

• Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its stake in CME Group Inc. by 2.6% during the first quarter, owning approximately 630,540 shares valued at about $167.3 million after acquiring additional shares.
• CME Group reported a 10.4% increase in revenue to $1.69 billion for the quarter, alongside earnings per share of $2.96, which exceeded analyst expectations.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.25 per share, set for payment on September 25, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 1.9%.

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 2.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 630,540 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 15,912 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned 0.17% of CME Group worth $167,276,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,379 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $366,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 4.0% in the first quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 1,106 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $293,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 0.8% in the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 5,828 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,546,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 3.6% in the first quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 1,342 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $356,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Koshinski Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in CME Group by 1.4% in the first quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,522 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $934,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CME. Barclays set a $298.00 price target on shares of CME Group and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $305.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $261.93.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.35, for a total transaction of $132,675.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,900 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,300,215. This represents a 9.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.47, for a total transaction of $3,229,407.12. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME Group stock traded down $1.49 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $270.12. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,397,216 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,322,688. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $275.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $268.87. The firm has a market cap of $97.35 billion, a PE ratio of 26.15, a P/E/G ratio of 4.91 and a beta of 0.44. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $207.75 and a fifty-two week high of $290.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.05. CME Group had a net margin of 58.48% and a return on equity of 14.60%. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.56 EPS. CME Group's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio is 48.40%.

CME Group 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.