PDT Partners LLC Makes New $13.25 Million Investment in CME Group Inc. $CME

PDT Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 60,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $13,250,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CME. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 2,075.0% during 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 last quarter. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID raised its position in CME Group by 191.9% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of CME opened at $277.32 on Wednesday. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $218.31 and a twelve month 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 firm has a market capitalization of $99.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.52, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.23. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $251.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $279.35.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 63.30% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.96 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 12.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.11%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, Director William R. Shepard bought 325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $230.57 per share, for a total transaction of $74,935.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 260,442 shares in the company, valued at $60,050,111.94. This trade represents a 0.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of CME Group from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of CME Group from $267.00 to $245.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of CME Group from $323.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Weiss Ratings lowered CME Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on CME Group from $310.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 6th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $288.56.

CME Group Profile

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.