Wedmont Private Capital Grows Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 86 shares during the quarter. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in CME Group were worth $456,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of CME Group by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $782,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its position in CME Group by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Lantz Financial LLC raised its position in CME Group by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 4,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $982,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in CME Group by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $631,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greystone Financial Group LLC raised its position in CME Group by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC now owns 3,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $691,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, Director Elizabeth A. Cook sold 1,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.52, for a total transaction of $211,520.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,241 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,858,336.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Daniel R. Glickman sold 650 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.44, for a total transaction of $130,936.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,821,771.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Elizabeth A. Cook sold 1,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.52, for a total value of $211,520.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,241 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,858,336.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,650 shares of company stock valued at $928,776 in the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CME Group Price Performance

CME Group stock traded up $1.05 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $207.64. The company had a trading volume of 698,690 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,960,358. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $198.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $207.02. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $223.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.76 billion, a PE ratio of 23.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.27 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.03. CME Group had a net margin of 56.98% and a return on equity of 12.82%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 9.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on CME. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $187.00 price objective (up previously from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $195.00 to $193.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $212.64.

CME Group Profile

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.