Fulcrum Equity Management Acquires Shares of 971 CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Fulcrum Equity Management acquired a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 971 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $258,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 122.2% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 612.5% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the 1st quarter worth $32,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CME. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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 note on Thursday, April 24th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $299.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $269.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $261.80.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME traded down $2.06 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $275.00. 1,910,095 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,177,281. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $193.25 and a fifty-two week 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 0.13. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $276.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $259.81. The company has a market capitalization of $99.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.67, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.44.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.19. CME Group had a net margin of 57.71% and a return on equity of 14.03%. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.50 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.30%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director William R. Shepard acquired 256 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were bought at an average price of $270.53 per share, for a total transaction of $69,255.68. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 258,196 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,849,763.88. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Phyllis M. Lockett sold 1,060 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.88, for a total value of $294,552.80. Following the sale, the director owned 3,108 shares in the company, valued at approximately $863,651.04. This represents a 25.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 13,400 shares of company stock worth $3,680,610. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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.