QRG Capital Management Inc. Boosts Stake in CME Group Inc. $CME

QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 132.6% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 85,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 48,573 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $23,485,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Webster Bank N. A. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 206.9% during the 2nd quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 89 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 122.2% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 84.3% during the 2nd quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 612.5% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 392 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.00, for a total transaction of $102,704.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 7,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,056,962. This trade represents a 4.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 379 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.83, for a total value of $98,475.57. Following the sale, the insider owned 9,508 shares in the company, valued at $2,470,463.64. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,043 shares of company stock valued at $3,527,956 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME opened at $264.67 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $269.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $271.09. The company has a market capitalization of $95.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.62, a P/E/G ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $213.94 and a fifty-two week high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 58.48%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.56 EPS. Research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the subject of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CME Group in a report on Saturday, September 27th. UBS Group cut their target price on CME Group from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Citigroup upgraded CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $275.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Wall Street Zen lowered CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on CME Group from $303.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $274.15.

CME Group Company Profile

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.