HCR Wealth Advisors Has $2.13 Million Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

HCR Wealth Advisors raised its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the period. HCR Wealth Advisors’ holdings in CME Group were worth $2,130,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CME. RB Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 11.4% in the first quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 1,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $338,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. Prudential PLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the first quarter valued at about $1,709,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 5.8% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 3,485 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $829,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the first quarter valued at about $281,000. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 9.5% in the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 25,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,001,000 after acquiring an additional 2,181 shares during the period. 85.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 4,477 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.98, for a total transaction of $931,126.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,426,582. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 4,477 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.98, for a total transaction of $931,126.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,426,582. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Daniel R. Glickman sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.09, for a total transaction of $154,567.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,020,867.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 58,391 shares of company stock valued at $11,905,049 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CME Group Stock Down 0.1 %

CME stock opened at $204.99 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $197.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $188.98. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $166.54 and a 12 month high of $209.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.41.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 26th. The financial services provider reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.10. CME Group had a return on equity of 11.30% and a net margin of 56.88%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.97 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 9.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 8th will be paid a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of CME Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $167.00 to $204.00 in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $169.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $211.00.

About CME Group

CME Group Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates contract markets for the trading of futures and options on futures contracts worldwide. It offers futures and options products based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, agricultural commodities, energy, and metals, as well as fixed income and foreign currency trading services.