Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Buys Shares of 10,551 CME Group Inc. $CME

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 10,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,116,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CME. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 64.9% in the 4th 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 last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership bought a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID boosted its position in CME Group by 191.9% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Up 3.3%

NASDAQ:CME traded up $7.82 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $242.58. 775,687 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,745,922. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market cap of $87.90 billion, a PE ratio of 20.68, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.25. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $267.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $284.36. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $218.31 and a one year high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.80 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 44.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In related news, Director William R. Shepard acquired 325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $230.57 per share, for a total transaction of $74,935.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 260,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,050,111.94. This represents a 0.12% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total transaction of $1,752,536.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CME. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on CME Group from $342.00 to $322.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. TD Cowen dropped their price target on CME Group from $323.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of CME Group from $310.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $298.00.

About CME Group

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.