Korea Investment CORP Acquires New Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Korea Investment Corp. acquired 176,488 CME Group shares in the second quarter, valued at approximately $39 million. Institutional investors collectively own 87.75% of the company.
• CME Group exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $2.99 in earnings per share versus the $2.91 consensus estimate and $1.71 billion in revenue. Analysts expect full-year earnings of $12.27 per share.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, equivalent to a $5.20 annualized payout and a 1.9% yield. Analyst sentiment is mixed, with a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $288.56.

Korea Investment CORP purchased a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 176,488 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $38,974,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 2,075.0% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in CME Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID raised its position in CME Group by 191.9% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

CME Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $274.98 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $218.31 and a 52 week high of $329.16. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $251.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $279.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.88 billion, a PE ratio of 23.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.23.

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

CME Group Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $324.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded shares of CME Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $316.00 to $323.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of CME Group from $316.00 to $270.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of CME Group from $323.00 to $273.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of CME Group from $267.00 to $245.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $288.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard bought 325 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $230.57 per share, for a total transaction of $74,935.25. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 260,442 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $60,050,111.94. This represents a 0.12% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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