ABN Amro Investment Solutions Acquires 11,627 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• ABN Amro Investment Solutions increased its stake in CME Group by 60.5% in the fourth quarter, adding 11,627 shares to bring its total to 30,837 shares valued at about $8.42 million.
• Analyst sentiment on CME remains broadly positive, with the stock carrying a Moderate Buy rating and an average price target of $305.29, though Barclays recently cut its target while others raised theirs.
• CME reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $3.36 on revenue of $1.88 billion, and it also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share payable June 25.

ABN Amro Investment Solutions boosted its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 60.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 30,837 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 11,627 shares during the period. ABN Amro Investment Solutions' holdings in CME Group were worth $8,421,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rathbones Group PLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 999,530 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $272,952,000 after acquiring an additional 10,602 shares during the last quarter. Little House Capital LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 9,437 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,577,000 after acquiring an additional 1,150 shares during the last quarter. Intrust Bank NA bought a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $350,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in CME Group by 54.3% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 622 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $170,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in CME Group by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 169,275 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $46,226,000 after acquiring an additional 5,662 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on CME shares. Barclays reduced their target price on CME Group from $343.00 to $316.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler upped their target price on CME Group from $313.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Erste Group Bank raised CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on CME Group from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised CME Group from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $305.29.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total transaction of $1,097,120.67. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 7,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,397,597.04. This represents a 31.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total value of $1,752,536.39. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares in the company, valued at $8,438,860.26. The trade was a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 48,244 shares of company stock valued at $14,598,037 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME opened at $289.29 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $257.17 and a 52-week high of $329.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The business's 50 day moving average price is $296.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $289.10. The firm has a market cap of $104.83 billion, a PE ratio of 24.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.23.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.80 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.26 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 44.37%.

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.

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