Sciencast Management LP Acquires Shares of 13,254 CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Sciencast Management LP acquired 13,254 shares of CME Group Inc. for approximately $3.5 million in the first quarter, indicating growing investor interest in the company.
• CME Group's latest earnings report showed a 10.4% increase in revenue year-over-year, with earnings per share of $2.96, surpassing analysts' expectations.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.25 per share, reflecting a 1.9% yield, with a dividend payout ratio of 48.40%.

Sciencast Management LP bought a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 13,254 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,516,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its position in CME Group by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 86,941 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $20,190,000 after purchasing an additional 19,533 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in CME Group by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 33,877 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,867,000 after purchasing an additional 2,006 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in CME Group by 33.8% in the fourth quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. raised its position in CME Group by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 7,523 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,791,000 after purchasing an additional 842 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Trust Co raised its position in CME Group by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 3,143 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $730,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Trading Down 0.0%

NASDAQ CME traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $262.30. 1,537,684 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,837,493. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $273.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $270.45. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.38 and a 1-year high of $290.79. The firm has a market cap of $94.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.39, a PEG ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.05. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 58.48%.The business had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.56 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.40%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.47, for a total transaction of $3,229,407.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 17,440 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,734,436.80. This trade represents a 40.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director William R. Shepard acquired 256 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $270.53 per share, with a total value of $69,255.68. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 258,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $69,849,763.88. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on CME. Oppenheimer increased their target price on CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Erste Group Bank cut CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Citigroup increased their price target on CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $260.60.

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.