Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC Raises Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC increased its position in CME Group Inc. by 156.3% in the first quarter, acquiring an additional 2,611 shares, bringing its total holdings to 4,282 shares valued at approximately $1.14 million.
• Several hedge funds have also boosted their stakes in CME Group, with Vanguard Group increasing its holdings by 1.2% and Wellington Management Group raising its position by an impressive 370.5%.
• Following recent analyst evaluations, CME Group has an average rating of "Hold" and a target price range from $261.93 to $305.00, reflecting varying levels of confidence among financial analysts regarding the stock's future performance.

Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC increased its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 156.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,282 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,611 shares during the quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $1,136,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its position in CME Group by 29.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 86,941 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $20,190,000 after purchasing an additional 19,533 shares in the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 78.6% during the fourth quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 616 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $143,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at $418,000. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in CME Group by 35.7% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 16,653 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,867,000 after acquiring an additional 4,377 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in CME Group by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 33,877 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,867,000 after buying an additional 2,006 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In related news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.35, for a total value of $132,675.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 4,900 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,300,215. This trade represents a 9.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 256 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $270.53 per share, with a total value of $69,255.68. Following the acquisition, the director owned 258,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $69,849,763.88. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CME Group Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ CME traded up $0.64 on Monday, reaching $262.58. 1,972,766 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,306,944. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.38 and a 12 month high of $290.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $274.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $270.15. The company has a market cap of $94.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.74 and a beta of 0.43.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.05. The firm 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.56 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 48.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CME. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 13th. Erste Group Bank downgraded CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. UBS Group reduced their target price on CME Group from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Piper Sandler increased their target price on CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CME Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $260.60.

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.