Ieq Capital LLC Acquires 12,114 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Ieq Capital LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 14.2%, owning 97,223 shares valued at approximately $25.79 million after purchasing an additional 12,114 shares.
• CME Group reported a quarterly EPS of $2.96, exceeding analyst expectations of $2.91, with revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, representing a 10.4% year-over-year increase.
• The company declared a $1.25 quarterly dividend, with an annualized yield of 1.8%, and a dividend payout ratio of 48.40%.

Ieq Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 14.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 97,223 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 12,114 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $25,792,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in CME Group by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,643,827 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $9,190,661,000 after buying an additional 400,737 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its holdings in CME Group by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 4,113,991 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,091,401,000 after buying an additional 363,130 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in CME Group by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,943,454 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $915,788,000 after buying an additional 403,920 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 24.7% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,135,753 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $728,260,000 after buying an additional 621,713 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 29.9% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,818,590 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $747,744,000 after purchasing an additional 648,591 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director William R. Shepard bought 256 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $270.53 per share, with a total value of $69,255.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 258,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at $69,849,763.88. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles P. Carey sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.35, for a total value of $132,675.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 4,900 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,300,215. The trade was a 9.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

CME Group Stock Down 0.1%

NASDAQ:CME traded down $0.26 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $266.51. The stock had a trading volume of 1,562,708 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,931,839. The business's 50 day moving average is $275.64 and its 200 day moving average is $269.36. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $207.75 and a fifty-two week high of $290.79. The stock has a market cap of $96.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.80, a PEG ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.05. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 58.48%.The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.56 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CME. Barclays set a $298.00 target price on CME Group and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, July 13th. Citigroup upped their target price on CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $261.93.

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.