GHP Investment Advisors Inc. Purchases 4,740 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 15.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 36,440 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,740 shares during the quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $10,763,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 345.2% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 237,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $64,965,000 after acquiring an additional 184,459 shares in the last quarter. FLC Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth $2,122,000. First Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth $1,325,000. London & Capital Asset Management Ltd increased its position in shares of CME Group by 41.6% in the third quarter. London & Capital Asset Management Ltd now owns 191,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,731,000 after purchasing an additional 56,259 shares during the period. Finally, Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. increased its position in shares of CME Group by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 140,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,289,000 after purchasing an additional 3,931 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,438,860.26. The trade was a 17.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total transaction of $10,447,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 55,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,606,111.30. This represents a 38.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped 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. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of CME Group from $323.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of CME Group from $275.00 to $267.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $302.24.

CME Group Price Performance

CME Group stock opened at $225.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $224.40 and a 52 week high of $329.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.21. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $274.65 and a 200-day moving average of $286.20.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.80 earnings per share. CME Group’s revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

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

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.