Phillips Wealth Planners LLC Makes New $1.05 Million Investment in CME Group Inc. $CME

Phillips Wealth Planners LLC bought a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 4,375 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,053,000. CME Group comprises approximately 0.8% of Phillips Wealth Planners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 11.5% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,660,000 after buying an additional 1,037 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in CME Group by 103.1% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,018,000 after buying an additional 121,707 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in CME Group by 1,325.2% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 23,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,497,000 after buying an additional 21,918 shares during the period. Nebula Research & Development LLC bought a new stake in CME Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $992,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in CME Group by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 287,876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $79,344,000 after acquiring an additional 7,397 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director William R. Shepard purchased 325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $230.57 per share, with a total value of $74,935.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 260,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,050,111.94. The trade was a 0.12% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Down 0.7%

CME Group stock opened at $267.88 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $96.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.72, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.23. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $218.31 and a 52-week high of $329.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $250.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $280.07.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 EPS 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 company had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.96 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 12.27 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on CME shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of CME Group from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of 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 downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Bank of America raised their target price on CME Group from $226.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, UBS Group cut 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. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $291.81.

CME Group Company 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.