Freestone Grove Partners LP Invests $35.99 Million in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Freestone Grove Partners acquired 162,979 CME Group shares worth approximately $35.99 million, while institutional investors collectively own 87.75% of the company.
• CME Group exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $2.99 in adjusted EPS and $1.71 billion in revenue. Revenue increased 0.8% year over year, and analysts project $12.27 in full-year EPS.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, equivalent to $5.20 annually and a 1.9% yield. Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $288.56.

Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 162,979 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $35,991,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC grew its position in CME Group by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 11,523 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,147,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 898 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $243,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. now owns 895 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. NBT Bank N A NY boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 1,666 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $492,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,073 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $317,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard purchased 325 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $230.57 per share, with a total value of $74,935.25. Following the acquisition, the director owned 260,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,050,111.94. This trade represents a 0.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

CME Group Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of CME stock opened at $280.98 on Thursday. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $252.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $279.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.03 billion, a PE ratio of 23.83, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.23. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $218.31 and a 52-week high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 63.30%.The business's revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.96 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 12.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. CME Group's payout ratio is currently 44.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised CME Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $316.00 to $323.00 in a report on Thursday, June 11th. UBS Group dropped their target price on CME Group from $310.00 to $260.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 6th. TD Cowen cut their price target on CME Group from $323.00 to $273.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of CME Group from $329.00 to $295.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded 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. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $288.56.

CME Group Company 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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