Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Magnolia Capital Advisors acquired 6,510 CME Group shares worth approximately $1.44 million during the second quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors collectively own 87.75% of the company.
• CME Group exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $2.99 in EPS versus the $2.91 consensus and revenue of $1.71 billion. Revenue increased 0.8% year over year, with a 63.3% net margin.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.30, equivalent to $5.20 annually and a 1.9% yield. Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $288.56.

Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 6,510 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,438,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 2,075.0% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in CME Group in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID increased its holdings in CME Group by 191.9% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $280.98 on Thursday. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $252.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $279.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.03 billion, a PE ratio of 23.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.23. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $218.31 and a fifty-two week high of $329.16.

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

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $310.00 to $260.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded CME Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $316.00 to $323.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Wall Street Zen cut CME Group from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on CME Group from $324.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on CME Group from $316.00 to $270.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $288.56.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, Director William R. Shepard acquired 325 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $230.57 per share, for a total transaction of $74,935.25. Following the acquisition, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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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