Slagle Financial LLC Takes $3.54 Million Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

by · The Markets Daily

Slagle Financial LLC purchased a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME – Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 12,831 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,536,000. CME Group comprises about 1.4% of Slagle Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in CME Group by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,643,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,190,661,000 after buying an additional 400,737 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 3.6% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,178,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,524,271,000 after buying an additional 319,899 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of CME Group by 9.7% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 4,113,991 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,091,401,000 after acquiring an additional 363,130 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its holdings in CME Group by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,920,046 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $804,823,000 after acquiring an additional 84,005 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp raised its holdings in CME Group by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,790,592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $769,143,000 after acquiring an additional 44,377 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on CME shares. Barclays cut their target price on CME Group from $298.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on CME Group from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price objective on CME Group from $297.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Argus decreased their target price on CME Group from $308.00 to $295.00 in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $312.00 to $314.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $287.65.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on CME

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $285.04 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.79 billion, a PE ratio of 27.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $267.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $272.82. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $222.56 and a twelve month high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.05. CME Group had a net margin of 58.84% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.68 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 48.45%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Harold Eugene Jr. Ford sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.53, for a total transaction of $263,530.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $287,511.23. The trade was a 47.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director William R. Shepard acquired 262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $265.19 per share, for a total transaction of $69,479.78. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 258,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,540,742.21. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 14,043 shares of company stock worth $3,791,486 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CME Group Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

Read More