Quarry LP Acquires Shares of 1,031 CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Quarry LP has invested approximately $274,000 in CME Group Inc., acquiring 1,031 shares during the first quarter of the year.
• Several analysts have given CME Group a mixed rating; UBS Group maintains a "neutral" rating with a price objective of $305.00, while Wall Street Zen has downgraded its rating from "hold" to "sell."
• CME Group recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.25 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 1.9% alongside a payout ratio of 48.40%.

Quarry LP purchased a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,031 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $274,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its position in CME Group by 122.2% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its position in CME Group by 612.5% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 1st quarter worth $32,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Price Performance

CME stock traded up $3.95 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $269.35. 2,136,475 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,773,067. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $212.38 and a one year high of $290.79. The stock has a market cap of $97.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.07, a P/E/G ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $275.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $269.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.05. CME Group had a net margin of 58.48% and a return on equity of 14.60%. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.56 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays set a $298.00 price objective on shares of CME Group and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, July 13th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $261.93.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, Director William R. Shepard acquired 256 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $270.53 per share, for a total transaction of $69,255.68. Following the transaction, the director owned 258,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 through the SEC website. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.47, for a total transaction of $3,229,407.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 17,440 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,734,436.80. The trade was a 40.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CME Group Company Profile

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.