Fortis Capital Advisors LLC Makes New $1.02 Million Investment in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Fortis Capital Advisors LLC has acquired a new stake in CME Group, purchasing 3,831 shares valued at approximately $1,016,000.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 87.75% of CME Group's stock, reflecting significant interest from major financial players.
• CME Group recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.25 per share, with an annualized dividend yield of 1.9%.

Fortis Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,831 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,016,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in CME Group by 88.9% during the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 6,787 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,801,000 after purchasing an additional 3,195 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 175,537 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $46,544,000 after purchasing an additional 9,703 shares during the last quarter. Ransom Advisory Ltd bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 122,611 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $32,527,000 after purchasing an additional 12,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Alpha LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 2.3% during the first quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 5,329 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,414,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CME. Citigroup boosted their price target on CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Barclays set a $298.00 price target on CME Group and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen cut CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 13th. Erste Group Bank cut CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target 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 research 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $260.60.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $262.30. 1,537,684 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,837,493. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $212.38 and a 52-week high of $290.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.39, a P/E/G ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $273.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $270.45.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.56 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard purchased 256 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $270.53 per share, with a total value of $69,255.68. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, 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. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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.