Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Purchases 8,902 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,159,966 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,902 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.32% of CME Group worth $342,613,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Asset Dedication LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 64.9% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 2,075.0% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership bought a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other 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 transaction of $10,447,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 55,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,606,111.30. This trade represents a 38.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director William R. Shepard bought 325 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $230.57 per share, with a total value of $74,935.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 260,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,050,111.94. This represents a 0.12% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. TD Cowen dropped their price target on CME Group from $323.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on CME Group from $267.00 to $245.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. 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. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of CME Group from $356.00 to $349.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of CME Group from $353.00 to $324.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Twelve investment 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 has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $292.12.

CME Group Trading Down 3.1%

Shares of CME opened at $237.41 on Wednesday. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $218.31 and a 1 year high of $329.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $256.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $281.68. The stock has a market cap of $86.03 billion, a PE ratio of 20.26, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.25.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The business had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.80 EPS. CME Group’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 12.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.37%.

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.