Sierra Summit Advisors LLC Increases Stake in CME Group Inc. $CME

Sierra Summit Advisors LLC boosted its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 461.0% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 29,715 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 24,418 shares during the quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $8,776,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Asset Dedication LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 64.9% in the fourth quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership bought a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID grew its stake in CME Group by 191.9% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of CME Group from $342.00 to $322.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on CME Group from $266.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on CME Group from $362.00 to $353.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on CME Group from $267.00 to $245.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $300.94.

CME Group Stock Up 2.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $236.60 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $268.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $284.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $218.31 and a one year high of $329.16. The company has a market cap of $85.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.19, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.25.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.80 EPS. Analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 44.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard purchased 325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $230.57 per share, for a total transaction of $74,935.25. Following the transaction, the director owned 260,442 shares in the company, valued at $60,050,111.94. The trade was a 0.12% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total value of $10,447,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,606,111.30. The trade was a 38.62% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.