Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Has $3.86 Million Stake in CME Group Inc. $CME

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,991 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $3,856,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Great Lakes Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 1,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $441,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,379 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $366,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 1,106 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $293,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 5,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,546,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 1,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $356,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CME has been the subject of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of CME Group from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 8th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of CME Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $260.60.

CME Group Stock Up 0.4%

CME Group stock opened at $259.83 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.38 and a 12-month high of $290.79. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $272.81 and its 200 day moving average is $270.55. The company has a market capitalization of $93.64 billion, a PE ratio of 25.15, a PEG ratio of 4.69 and a beta of 0.43.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.05. CME Group had a net margin of 58.48% and a return on equity of 14.60%. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.56 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.47, for a total value of $3,229,407.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 17,440 shares in the company, valued at $4,734,436.80. This represents a 40.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director William R. Shepard bought 256 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $270.53 per share, with a total value of $69,255.68. Following the purchase, the director owned 258,196 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,849,763.88. This represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

About CME Group

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.