Elevate Capital Advisors LLC Buys 3,919 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Elevate Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 85.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,919 shares during the quarter. CME Group comprises about 1.6% of Elevate Capital Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $2,302,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Caldwell Trust Co grew its position in shares of CME Group by 116.3% during the third quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 93 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 84.3% in the 2nd quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Financial Consulate Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Sagard Holdings Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the second quarter valued at $30,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $201.00 to $209.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of CME Group from $313.00 to $304.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $310.00 to $318.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price objective on CME Group from $297.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on CME Group from $314.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $291.94.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Harold Eugene Jr. Ford sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.53, for a total value of $263,530.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,091 shares in the company, valued at $287,511.23. This represents a 47.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director William R. Shepard bought 251 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $278.37 per share, for a total transaction of $69,870.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 258,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $72,017,102.70. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Up 2.5%

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $275.23 on Thursday. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $225.46 and a 1 year high of $290.79. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $274.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $271.81. The company has a market cap of $99.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.67, a PEG ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.05. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 58.84%.The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.68 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th were paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 12th. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 48.45%.

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.