Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC Raises Stake in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in CME Group Inc. by 4.1% during the second quarter, now holding 25,415 shares valued at approximately $7 million.
• Recent analyst activity includes Raymond James decreasing their target price for CME Group from $309 to $307, while others like Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target from $283 to $287.
• CME Group recently paid a quarterly dividend of $1.25 per share, continuing a strong payout history with an annualized yield of 1.8% and a payout ratio of 48.40%.

Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,415 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 997 shares during the period. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $7,005,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. RFG Advisory LLC purchased a new position in CME Group during the 2nd quarter worth $716,000. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 14,753 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,066,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 22.0% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 57,124 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $15,744,000 after acquiring an additional 10,315 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 11,196 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,086,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares during the period. Finally, Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 2nd quarter worth $230,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director William R. Shepard purchased 262 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $265.19 per share, for a total transaction of $69,479.78. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 258,459 shares in the company, valued at $68,540,742.21. This represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 transaction of $3,229,407.12. Following the sale, the insider owned 17,440 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,734,436.80. This trade represents a 40.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 13,043 shares of company stock valued at $3,527,956. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on shares of CME Group from $309.00 to $307.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of CME Group from $298.00 to $280.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $246.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $283.43.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME opened at $271.28 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $97.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.26, a PEG ratio of 5.72 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50-day moving average of $268.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $271.35. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $213.94 and a 12-month high of $290.79.

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

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. CME Group's payout ratio is presently 48.40%.

CME Group 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.

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