Martin Capital Partners LLC Acquires 8,549 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Martin Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 27.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,549 shares during the period. CME Group accounts for approximately 3.3% of Martin Capital Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Martin Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $8,860,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Grant Private Wealth Management Inc lifted its stake in CME Group by 43.7% in the 2nd quarter. Grant Private Wealth Management Inc now owns 1,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 562 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Partners LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 6.2% in the second quarter. Arlington Partners LLC now owns 843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $186,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 172.8% in the second quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 221 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 29.5% in the second quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 1,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $272,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new position in CME Group during the second quarter worth approximately $307,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $262.63 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $249.99 and a 200 day moving average of $281.06. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $94.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.28, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.23. 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 posted 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 company had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 63.30%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.96 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 12.27 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on CME. UBS Group lowered their price objective on CME Group from $310.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price 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. Wall Street Zen lowered CME Group from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Saturday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of 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. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $226.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $291.81.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In related news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total transaction of $10,447,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 55,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,606,111.30. This trade represents a 38.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director William R. Shepard bought 325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $230.57 per share, with a total value of $74,935.25. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 260,442 shares in the company, valued at $60,050,111.94. The trade was a 0.12% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.