Fulcrum Capital LLC Decreases Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Fulcrum Capital LLC lessened its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.0% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 43,392 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,325 shares during the quarter. CME Group comprises approximately 2.6% of Fulcrum Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Fulcrum Capital LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $11,512,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Up 0.6%

NASDAQ CME opened at $287.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $269.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $251.08. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $290.10. The company has a market capitalization of $103.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.75, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.19. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.50 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 390 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.50, for a total value of $108,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 6,708 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,861,470. This represents a 5.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel G. Kaye sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.42, for a total transaction of $141,210.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,035,916.56. This represents a 12.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,400 shares of company stock worth $6,533,180 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Raymond James raised shares of CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered shares of CME Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $256.80.

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.