Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Buys 1,491 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Key Points

• Empirical Financial Services LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 20.1%, now owning 8,894 shares valued at approximately $2.36 million.
• Recent earnings report shows CME Group's Q2 EPS at $2.96, surpassing estimates, and a 10.4% increase in year-over-year revenue.
• CME Group announced a quarterly dividend of $1.25, translating to an annual yield of 1.8%, reflecting a robust financial position.

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 20.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,894 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,491 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management's holdings in CME Group were worth $2,359,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CME. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 3.0% in the first quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,379 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $366,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 4.0% during 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 period. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 0.8% during the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 5,828 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,546,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC boosted 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 valued at $356,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays set a $298.00 target price on shares of CME Group and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $305.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $261.93.

CME Group Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:CME traded up $2.48 during trading on Friday, hitting $280.76. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,011,041 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,073,115. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.62 and a fifty-two week high of $290.79. The company has a market capitalization of $101.17 billion, a PE ratio of 27.18, a P/E/G ratio of 4.99 and a beta of 0.44. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $276.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $264.14.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced 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 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%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.56 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. CME Group's payout ratio is presently 48.40%.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 390 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.50, for a total transaction of $108,225.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 6,708 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,861,470. The trade was a 5.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Phyllis M. Lockett sold 1,060 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.88, for a total transaction of $294,552.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,108 shares of the company's stock, valued at $863,651.04. The trade was a 25.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,400 shares of company stock worth $2,881,130. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.