Wealthfront Advisers LLC Takes Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 56,285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $12,429,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership bought a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in CME Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, Director William R. Shepard acquired 325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 acquisition, 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 acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of CME opened at $271.54 on Wednesday. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $250.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $279.97. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $218.31 and a 52 week high of $329.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.23.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.08. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 63.30%.The business had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.96 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.27 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of CME Group from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of CME Group from $329.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of CME Group from $310.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 6th. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of CME Group from $323.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $291.81.

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.