New England Research & Management Inc. Invests $338,000 in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• New England Research & Management Inc. invested $338,000 in CME Group, acquiring 1,225 shares in the financial services provider during the 2nd quarter.
• CME Group reported $2.96 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations, with revenues up 10.4% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.25, scheduled for payment on September 25th, reflecting an annualized dividend of $5.00 and a yield of 1.9%.

New England Research & Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,225 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $338,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 15.3% in the second quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 1,984 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $547,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its stake in CME Group by 6.4% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 88,083 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $24,277,000 after buying an additional 5,315 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 3.1% during the second quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC now owns 1,907 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $526,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Little House Capital LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 27.3% during the second quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 8,224 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,267,000 after purchasing an additional 1,765 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dover Advisors LLC acquired a new position in CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $789,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

CME Group Trading Down 1.3%

CME opened at $258.83 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.06, a PEG ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.43. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.38 and a fifty-two week high of $290.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company's 50 day moving average price is $273.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $270.62.

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

CME Group Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup upped their target price on CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, July 13th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of CME Group from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $260.60.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, Director William R. Shepard purchased 256 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $270.53 per share, for a total transaction of $69,255.68. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 258,196 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,849,763.88. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.47, for a total value of $3,229,407.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 17,440 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,734,436.80. This represents a 40.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

About CME Group

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.

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