Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC Buys 9,218 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC lifted its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 198,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,218 shares during the period. CME Group comprises approximately 0.8% of Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC owned about 0.06% of CME Group worth $43,814,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Sigma Planning Corp grew its holdings in CME Group by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 13,221 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,920,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 80.0% during the second quarter. Two Sigma Securities LLC now owns 16,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,684,000 after purchasing an additional 7,417 shares during the period. Van Den Berg Management I Inc. grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 19.4% in the second quarter. Van Den Berg Management I Inc. now owns 22,089 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,878,000 after purchasing an additional 3,591 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the second quarter worth about $464,000. Finally, Greenwood Capital Associates LLC increased its holdings in CME Group by 29.4% during the 2nd quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC now owns 27,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,167,000 after purchasing an additional 6,346 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard purchased 325 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $230.57 per share, with a total value of $74,935.25. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 260,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,050,111.94. The trade was a 0.12% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut CME Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. UBS Group decreased their target price on CME Group from $310.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 6th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $316.00 to $323.00 in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $226.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $320.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $288.56.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME opened at $285.80 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $218.31 and a 52 week high of $329.16. The stock has a market cap of $102.77 billion, a PE ratio of 24.24, a PEG ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.23. The business has a 50 day moving average of $253.80 and a 200-day moving average of $278.93.

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

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.11%.

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.