EFG International AG Purchases New Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

EFG International AG acquired a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 152,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $33,768,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 2,075.0% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership bought a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in CME Group during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID raised its stake in CME Group by 191.9% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard bought 325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were bought 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 trade represents a 0.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CME Group Stock Down 0.7%

CME stock opened at $277.32 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $99.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.23. 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $251.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $279.35. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $218.31 and a fifty-two week high of $329.16.

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

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 44.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on CME shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $324.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of CME Group from $310.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of CME Group from $316.00 to $270.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $288.56.

CME Group Company 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.