Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership Raises Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 15.6% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 5,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the period. CME Group accounts for about 0.7% of Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,022,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Gold Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group during the first quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in CME Group by 66.1% during the second quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CME. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Bank of America cut CME Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $212.00 to $177.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Barclays upped their target price on CME Group from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on CME Group from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $209.73.

CME Group Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $218.18 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $78.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.82, a P/E/G ratio of 8.85 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $223.80. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $206.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $207.48.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.03. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.82% and a net margin of 56.98%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.30 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 52.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total transaction of $1,629,381.87. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,932,706.13. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other CME Group news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Sunday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total transaction of $163,610.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,877,504.39. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total value of $1,629,381.87. Following the transaction, the director now owns 55,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,932,706.13. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.