Marcum Wealth LLC Grows Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Marcum Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. Marcum Wealth LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $532,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CME. Gold Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Northwest Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in CME Group by 966.7% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in CME Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $41,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.44, for a total transaction of $586,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,399,936.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other CME Group news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.44, for a total transaction of $586,320.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,399,936.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 7,140 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.35, for a total transaction of $1,501,899.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,256 shares in the company, valued at $6,153,999.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,290 shares of company stock worth $2,957,300 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CME has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price target on CME Group from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “sell” rating and set a $187.00 target price (up previously from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on CME Group from $195.00 to $193.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $212.64.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME traded down $2.61 on Monday, hitting $197.22. 2,133,193 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,960,977. The firm has a market cap of $71.01 billion, a PE ratio of 22.86, a P/E/G ratio of 6.27 and a beta of 0.52. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $223.80. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $198.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $207.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.03. CME Group had a net margin of 56.98% and a return on equity of 12.82%. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.30 earnings per share. CME Group’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 9.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.33%.

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.