True North Advisors LLC Purchases New Stake in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• True North Advisors LLC opened a new position in CME Group in the first quarter, buying 4,083 shares valued at about $1.21 million.
• CME Group reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings and revenue, with EPS of $3.36 versus $3.11 expected and revenue of $1.88 billion versus $1.77 billion estimated; revenue rose 14.5% year over year.
• The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, equal to an annualized yield of about 2.1%, while analysts currently maintain a consensus rating of Moderate Buy.

True North Advisors LLC acquired a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 4,083 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,206,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SEB Asset Management AB acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $24,383,000. World Equity Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 446.0% during the first quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 4,974 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,469,000 after buying an additional 4,063 shares during the last quarter. Spartan Wealth Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in CME Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,673,000. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 1.5% in the first quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 6,833 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,018,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, Aviance Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 2.1% in the first quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,453 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $724,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $245.05 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $218.31 and a 52-week high of $329.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap 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. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $258.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $282.12.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.80 earnings per share. Analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.18 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard acquired 325 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 purchase, the director owned 260,442 shares of the company's stock, valued at $60,050,111.94. This represents a 0.12% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total value of $1,752,536.39. Following the transaction, the insider owned 27,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,438,860.26. This represents a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. Erste Group Bank downgraded CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $305.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on CME Group from $267.00 to $245.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on CME Group from $266.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $292.12.

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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