Evolve Private Wealth LLC Makes New Investment in CME Group Inc. $CME

Evolve Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 4,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $929,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 2,075.0% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. 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 worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Finally, Main Street Group LTD acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Price Performance

CME stock opened at $274.98 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $251.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $279.57. The stock has a market cap of $98.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.23. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $218.31 and a 1 year high of $329.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.08. CME Group had a net margin of 63.30% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.96 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on CME shares. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $226.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. UBS Group reduced their target price on CME Group from $310.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings lowered CME Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Barclays lowered their price target on CME Group from $316.00 to $270.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on CME Group from $267.00 to $245.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $288.56.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other news, Director William R. Shepard acquired 325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were bought at an average price of $230.57 per share, with a total value of $74,935.25. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 260,442 shares in the company, valued at $60,050,111.94. The trade was a 0.12% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group 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.