Guardian Asset Advisors LLC Buys 146 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Guardian Asset Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 12.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,313 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. Guardian Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $362,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new stake in CME Group during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Webster Bank N. A. increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 206.9% in the 2nd quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 89 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 122.2% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 84.3% during the 2nd quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 612.5% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of CME Group from $313.00 to $304.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of CME Group from $298.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $252.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $284.53.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard purchased 262 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $265.19 per share, with a total value of $69,479.78. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 258,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,540,742.21. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.00, for a total transaction of $102,704.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 7,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,056,962. The trade was a 4.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,043 shares of company stock worth $3,527,956 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CME Group Price Performance

CME opened at $268.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.06, a P/E/G ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 0.41. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $266.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $271.57. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $213.94 and a 52-week high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 58.84% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.68 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th were paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.40%.

CME Group Profile

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.