HCR Wealth Advisors Raises Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

HCR Wealth Advisors lifted its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors’ holdings in CME Group were worth $1,989,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in CME Group by 1.3% in the fourth 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 lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $250,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Lantz Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.1% in the first 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. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich grew its holdings in CME Group by 0.7% during the second quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich now owns 7,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,507,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Greystone Financial Group LLC raised its position in CME Group by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC now owns 3,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $691,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ CME opened at $220.50 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $203.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $207.54. The company has a market cap of $79.40 billion, a PE ratio of 25.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.92 and a beta of 0.55. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $223.80.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.03. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.82% and a net margin of 56.98%. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 52.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on CME shares. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Bank of America lowered shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $212.00 to $177.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on CME Group from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $209.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total value of $1,629,381.87. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at $11,932,706.13. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other CME Group news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.44, for a total value of $586,320.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,399,936.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total transaction of $1,629,381.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at $11,932,706.13. The disclosure for this sale 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.