Meyer Handelman Co. Raises Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

Meyer Handelman Co. raised its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 8.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 87,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,477 shares during the period. Meyer Handelman Co.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $25,788,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 64.9% during the fourth quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 191.9% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $225.00 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $224.40 and a 1-year high of $329.16. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $274.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $286.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.53 billion, a PE ratio of 19.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.21.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.80 EPS. CME Group’s revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on CME shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded CME Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on CME Group from $356.00 to $349.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 18th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on CME Group from $323.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on CME Group from $362.00 to $353.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $302.24.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total value of $10,447,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 55,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,606,111.30. This trade represents a 38.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total value of $1,752,536.39. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,438,860.26. The trade was a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Company Profile

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.