D.A. Davidson & CO. Has $10.01 Million Stock Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 8.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 33,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,519 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $10,009,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CME. Asset Dedication LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 64.9% in the 4th quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 2,075.0% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership bought a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $245.05 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. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $218.31 and a fifty-two week high of $329.16. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $258.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $282.12. The firm has a market cap of $88.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.25.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.80 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.21 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 44.37%.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s 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 in the company, valued at $16,606,111.30. This trade represents a 38.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the business’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 transaction of $1,752,536.39. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,438,860.26. This represents a 17.20% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on CME shares. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on CME Group from $356.00 to $349.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of CME Group from $323.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $292.12.

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.