Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC Buys 9,218 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 4.9% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 198,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,218 shares during the quarter. CME Group accounts for about 0.8% of Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $43,814,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in CME Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $6,749,965,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,523,241,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the second quarter valued at $867,313,000. Alphabet Inc. bought a new stake in CME Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $769,376,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in CME Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $629,771,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In related news, Director William R. Shepard purchased 325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were bought at an average price of $230.57 per share, for a total transaction of $74,935.25. Following the acquisition, the director owned 260,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,050,111.94. This represents a 0.12% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on CME. TD Cowen lowered their target price on CME Group from $323.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $249.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $316.00 to $323.00 in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $226.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of CME Group from $267.00 to $245.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $288.56.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $285.80 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $102.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.24, a PEG ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.23. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $218.31 and a 12 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $253.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $278.93.

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

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 44.11%.

About CME Group

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.