Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Takes Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Pallas Capital Advisors initiated a position in CME Group, purchasing 8,611 shares valued at approximately $1.9 million. Institutional investors collectively own 87.75% of the company.
• CME Group reported quarterly earnings of $2.99 per share, exceeding estimates by $0.08, while revenue rose 0.8% year over year to $1.71 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, equivalent to $5.20 annually and a 1.9% yield. Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $291.81.

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 8,611 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,902,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Performance Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in CME Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,697,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $330,129,000. Perigon Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the second quarter valued at $9,409,000. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the second quarter valued at $12,744,000. Finally, Phillips Wealth Planners LLC bought a new stake in CME Group in the second quarter worth $1,053,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

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 shares were purchased at an average price of $230.57 per share, with a total value of $74,935.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 260,442 shares in the company, valued at $60,050,111.94. This represents a 0.12% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CME Group Trading Down 0.7%

CME stock opened at $267.88 on Tuesday. 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 twelve month low of $218.31 and a twelve month high of $329.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.23. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $250.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $280.07.

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

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of CME Group from $310.00 to $260.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of CME Group from $342.00 to $322.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded CME Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $316.00 to $323.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on CME Group from $267.00 to $245.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $291.81.

CME Group Profile

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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