Magnetar Financial LLC Makes New Investment in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Magnetar Financial LLC acquired 41,369 shares of CME Group Inc. in the 1st quarter, valued at approximately $10,975,000.
• Several institutional investors have increased their stakes in CME Group, with ownership among institutional investors and hedge funds now at 87.75%.
• CME Group declared a quarterly dividend of $1.25 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 1.9%.

Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 41,369 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $10,975,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GQG Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 7,676.3% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 2,205,041 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $584,975,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176,685 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in CME Group by 370.5% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,653,957 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $704,068,000 after buying an additional 2,089,935 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 32,941.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,858,887 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $493,144,000 after buying an additional 1,853,261 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in CME Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $218,842,000. Finally, Egerton Capital UK LLP increased its stake in CME Group by 79.4% in the first quarter. Egerton Capital UK LLP now owns 1,730,194 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $459,003,000 after purchasing an additional 765,773 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME traded down $1.11 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $265.40. 2,834,737 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,317,739. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.64 billion, a PE ratio of 25.69, a P/E/G ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 0.43. The company's 50 day moving average is $275.51 and its 200 day moving average is $269.64. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $207.75 and a one year high of $290.79. 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 - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.56 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 48.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Barclays set a $298.00 price objective on shares of CME Group and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $261.93.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 17,440 shares in the company, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director William R. Shepard purchased 256 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $270.53 per share, with a total value of $69,255.68. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 258,196 shares in the company, valued at $69,849,763.88. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 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.