North Star Asset Management Inc. Makes New Investment in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• North Star Asset Management acquired 5,544 CME Group shares worth approximately $1.224 million during the second quarter. Institutional investors collectively own 87.75% of the company.
• CME Group reported quarterly adjusted earnings of $2.99 per share and revenue of $1.71 billion, exceeding analyst estimates, while revenue rose 0.8% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, equivalent to $5.20 annually and a 1.8% yield. Analysts’ consensus rating is “Hold,” with an average price target of $288.56.

North Star Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in 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 acquired 5,544 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,224,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 11,523 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,147,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 4.3% during 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 last quarter. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. now owns 895 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. NBT Bank N A NY lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 2.3% in 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 buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 3.8% in the first quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,073 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $317,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

CME Group Stock Up 1.7%

CME opened at $285.80 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $102.77 billion, a PE ratio of 24.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.23. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $218.31 and a twelve month high of $329.16. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $253.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $279.13. 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 (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.96 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. CME Group's payout ratio is presently 44.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $305.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $320.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $286.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of CME Group from $267.00 to $245.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of CME Group from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $288.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director William R. Shepard acquired 325 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were bought at an average price of $230.57 per share, for a total transaction of $74,935.25. Following the acquisition, the director owned 260,442 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $60,050,111.94. This trade represents a 0.12% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate 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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