CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Purchased by Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY

Key Points

• Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY boosted its CME Group stake by 5,269% in the first quarter, ending with 195,433 shares valued at about $57.7 million.
• CME Group reported strong Q1 results, with earnings of $3.36 per share and revenue of $1.88 billion, both ahead of analyst expectations. Revenue rose 14.5% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share to be paid on June 25, alongside mixed analyst sentiment: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus and a target price of about $302.24.

Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY increased its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 5,269.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 195,433 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 191,793 shares during the period. CME Group makes up approximately 1.6% of Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY's portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY owned 0.05% of CME Group worth $57,721,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Asset Dedication LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 64.9% in the fourth quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID increased its position in CME Group by 191.9% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CME shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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 research note on Thursday, June 18th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of CME Group from $343.00 to $316.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings cut CME Group from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Argus reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of CME Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $302.24.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $242.26 on Wednesday. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $241.45 and a one year high of $329.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $277.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $286.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.21.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. CME Group's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.80 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group's payout ratio is 44.37%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total value of $10,447,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,630 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,606,111.30. The trade was a 38.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total transaction of $1,752,536.39. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,438,860.26. This trade represents a 17.20% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by 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.

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