St. James Investment Company LLC Boosts Stake in CME Group Inc. $CME

St. James Investment Company LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 34,365 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the quarter. CME Group comprises approximately 1.5% of St. James Investment Company LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. St. James Investment Company LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $9,472,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Webster Bank N. A. lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 206.9% in the second quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 89 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 122.2% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 84.3% in the second quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 612.5% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $268.61 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $266.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $271.48. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $213.94 and a twelve month high of $290.79. The company has a market capitalization of $96.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 0.41.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.05. CME Group had a net margin of 58.48% and a return on equity of 14.60%. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.56 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on CME shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $281.00 to $288.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of CME Group from $313.00 to $304.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $252.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $283.71.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 379 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.83, for a total value of $98,475.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 9,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,470,463.64. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 392 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.00, for a total transaction of $102,704.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 7,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,056,962. This represents a 4.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 13,043 shares of company stock worth $3,527,956. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

About CME Group

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.