Captrust Financial Advisors Grows Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 5.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 552,929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 30,983 shares during the quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors owned approximately 0.15% of CME Group worth $149,396,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Caldwell Trust Co boosted its stake in CME Group by 116.3% during the 3rd quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 93 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Financial Consulate Inc. bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Corundum Trust Company INC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $313.33 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $112.99 billion, a PE ratio of 28.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.24. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $248.53 and a fifty-two week high of $329.16. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $297.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $279.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 62.45% and a return on equity of 14.65%. CME Group’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.52 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on CME. Weiss Ratings upgraded CME Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Erste Group Bank upgraded CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on CME Group from $302.00 to $356.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Barclays lifted their target price on CME Group from $304.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on CME Group from $266.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $304.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director William R. Shepard bought 251 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $278.37 per share, for a total transaction of $69,870.87. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 258,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $72,017,102.70. This represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.65, for a total transaction of $1,300,530.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 43,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,317,117.55. This trade represents a 8.90% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,248 shares of company stock worth $1,616,700. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About CME Group

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.