Global Retirement Partners LLC Buys 6,306 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its CME Group stake by 71.1% in the fourth quarter, buying 6,306 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 15,177 shares valued at about $4.15 million.
• CME Group reported strong quarterly earnings, with EPS of $3.36 beating estimates and revenue of $1.88 billion also topping forecasts; revenue rose 14.5% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, payable June 25, for an annualized yield of about 1.8%.

Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 71.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,177 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,306 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $4,145,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. West Family Investments Inc. lifted its stake in CME Group by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 3,062 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $827,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 64.9% during the 4th quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 11,523 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,147,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlatl Advisers LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Atlatl Advisers LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $574,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of CME opened at $289.29 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $296.62 and a 200 day moving average of $289.10. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $257.17 and a fifty-two week high of $329.16. The firm has a market cap of $104.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The company had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.80 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 12.26 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on CME shares. Argus restated a "hold" rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on CME Group from $340.00 to $323.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their price objective on CME Group from $340.00 to $316.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on CME Group from $342.00 to $322.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on CME Group from $266.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $305.29.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total value of $1,097,120.67. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 7,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,397,597.04. This trade represents a 31.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.65, for a total value of $1,300,530.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 43,007 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,317,117.55. This trade represents a 8.90% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 48,244 shares of company stock worth $14,598,037. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

CME Group 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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