Spartan Wealth Advisory Services LLC Makes New $1.67 Million Investment in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Spartan Wealth Advisory Services opened a new position in CME Group in the first quarter, buying 5,665 shares valued at about $1.67 million.
• CME Group reported strong quarterly results, with earnings of $3.36 per share and revenue of $1.88 billion, both ahead of analyst expectations.
• The stock has seen mixed signals from analysts and insiders: the consensus rating remains Moderate Buy, while CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold shares and a director made a small purchase.

Spartan Wealth Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 5,665 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,673,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 64.9% during the 4th quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its holdings in CME Group by 2,075.0% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on CME Group from $323.00 to $273.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on CME Group from $266.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Weiss Ratings lowered CME Group from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on CME Group from $342.00 to $322.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $292.12.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $245.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company's fifty day moving average price is $258.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $282.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.25. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $218.31 and a 12 month high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The company had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.80 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total value of $10,447,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,630 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,606,111.30. This represents a 38.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director William R. Shepard bought 325 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The shares were acquired 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 approximately $60,050,111.94. The trade was a 0.12% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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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