Freedom Day Solutions LLC Makes New Investment in CME Group Inc. $CME

Freedom Day Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 7,337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,982,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jessup Wealth Management Inc raised its position in CME Group by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Jessup Wealth Management Inc now owns 7,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,197,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 5,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,453,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 2.3% during the first quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 1,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $441,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 2.7% during the second quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 1,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $392,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 2.0% during the second quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $538,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME stock opened at $262.45 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $225.46 and a 1-year high of $290.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $94.64 billion, a PE ratio of 25.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.27. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $273.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $271.89.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.05. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 58.84%.The company had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.68 earnings per share. CME Group’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 12th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on CME Group from $307.00 to $311.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $297.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Argus dropped their target price on shares of CME Group from $308.00 to $295.00 in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Citigroup raised CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $275.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on CME Group from $314.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $291.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director William R. Shepard acquired 251 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $278.37 per share, with a total value of $69,870.87. Following the transaction, the director owned 258,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $72,017,102.70. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total transaction of $6,738,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 65,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,737,468.20. The trade was a 27.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.30% of the stock is currently 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.