HUB Investment Partners LLC Raises Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• HUB Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in CME Group by 32.3% in Q3, buying 5,554 shares to hold 22,754 shares worth about $6.15 million.
• CME slightly beat quarterly estimates (EPS $2.77 vs. $2.75; revenue $1.65B, up 8.1% YoY) and increased its quarterly dividend to $1.30 per share (annualized $5.20, 1.6% yield), payable March 26 with an ex-dividend date of March 10.
• Insiders have been net sellers recently—directors sold shares (e.g., Dennis Suskind 748 shares at $300; Martin Gepsman 300 at $305.90) and insiders sold 30,248 shares worth roughly $8.36 million last quarter, leaving insiders with only 0.30% ownership.

HUB Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 32.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,754 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,554 shares during the period. HUB Investment Partners LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $6,148,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Caldwell Trust Co lifted its position in CME Group by 116.3% during the third quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 93 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA purchased a new stake in CME Group in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Financial Consulate Inc. bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the third quarter worth about $28,000. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Corundum Trust Company INC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $224,400.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,699 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $809,700. The trade was a 21.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.90, for a total value of $91,770.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 24,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,647,194.10. The trade was a 1.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 30,248 shares of company stock valued at $8,355,450. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Price Performance

CME stock opened at $317.10 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $248.53 and a one year high of $329.16. The company's fifty day moving average price is $292.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $277.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company has a market capitalization of $114.35 billion, a PE ratio of 28.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.24.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.64 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 62.45% and a return on equity of 14.65%. CME Group's quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.52 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a boost from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. CME Group's payout ratio is currently 44.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CME has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Argus reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $302.00 to $356.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Erste Group Bank raised shares of CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a report on Friday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $302.71.

About CME Group

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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