Calamos Advisors LLC Has $11.97 Million Stock Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Calamos Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 5.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 40,526 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,106 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $11,969,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 64.9% during the 4th quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC raised its stake in CME Group by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 11,523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,147,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group raised its stake in CME Group by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $243,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Sovran Advisors LLC raised its stake in CME Group by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 1,118 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $305,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Endowment Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in CME Group by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. now owns 895 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $244,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $310.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of CME Group from $342.00 to $322.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $320.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of CME Group from $316.00 to $270.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $316.00 to $323.00 in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $293.59.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $243.61 on Wednesday. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $218.31 and a one year high of $329.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $88.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.79, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.25. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $260.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $282.82.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 12.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.37%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total value of $1,752,536.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 27,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,438,860.26. This represents a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total transaction of $10,447,850.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 55,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,606,111.30. This represents a 38.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.