Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Acquires New Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group acquired 192,455 CME Group shares worth approximately $42.5 million, joining other institutional investors that collectively own 87.75% of the company.
• CME Group reported quarterly EPS of $2.99, exceeding estimates of $2.91, while revenue reached $1.71 billion, up 0.8% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, equivalent to $5.20 annually and a 1.9% yield. Analysts’ average rating is “Hold,” with an average price target of $288.56.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 192,455 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $42,500,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.05% of CME Group at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 4.3% in 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 stake in CME Group by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. now owns 895 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $244,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. NBT Bank N A NY boosted its holdings in CME Group by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 1,666 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $492,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,073 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $317,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard bought 325 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $230.57 per share, with a total value of $74,935.25. Following the purchase, the director owned 260,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,050,111.94. This represents a 0.12% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

CME Group Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $280.94 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $218.31 and a one year high of $329.16. The company has a market cap of $101.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.83, a PEG ratio of 3.34 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. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $253.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $279.09.

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

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. CME Group's payout ratio is presently 44.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of CME Group from $323.00 to $273.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $305.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $286.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. UBS Group cut their price objective 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. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of CME Group from $316.00 to $270.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $288.56.

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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