CME Group Inc. $CME Stock Position Raised by Banque Cantonale Vaudoise

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise boosted its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 155.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,174 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in CME Group were worth $3,970,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 64.9% during the 4th quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID raised its stake in CME Group by 191.9% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Down 2.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $225.00 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $81.53 billion, a PE ratio of 19.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.21. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $224.40 and a 52 week high of $329.16. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $274.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $286.20.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.80 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 44.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on CME. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of CME Group from $343.00 to $316.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of CME Group in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of CME Group from $342.00 to $322.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of CME Group from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of CME Group in a report on Monday, June 15th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $302.24.

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.