Fiduciary Alliance LLC Makes New $3.19 Million Investment in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Fiduciary Alliance LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 15,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,191,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CME. Gold Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Northwest Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 966.7% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 1st quarter worth $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CME. Argus boosted their target price on CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $187.00 target price (up from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded CME Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $206.00 to $187.00 in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (down previously from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $215.90.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.44, for a total transaction of $586,320.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,399,936.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other CME Group news, Director Daniel R. Glickman sold 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.44, for a total value of $130,936.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,821,771.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.44, for a total transaction of $586,320.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,399,936.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,290 shares of company stock valued at $11,393,700 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME traded up $1.07 during trading on Friday, hitting $196.60. 6,618,079 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,263,889. The company has a market cap of $70.79 billion, a PE ratio of 22.37, a P/E/G ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $205.30 and a 200 day moving average of $208.61. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $180.11 and a 52-week high of $223.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.48 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.45% and a net margin of 56.84%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 9.75 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 52.33%.

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.