Alberta Investment Management Corp Makes New Investment in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Key Points

• Alberta Investment Management Corp acquired a new stake in CME Group, buying 42,847 shares valued at approximately $11.37 million in the first quarter.
• Insider transactions include Director Charles P. Carey selling 500 shares at an average price of $265.35, while Director William R. Shepard bought 256 shares at $270.53.
• CME Group reported $2.96 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing analyst expectations and showing a 10.4% increase in revenue compared to the same period last year.

Alberta Investment Management Corp bought a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 42,847 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $11,367,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CME. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 29.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 86,941 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $20,190,000 after acquiring an additional 19,533 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 43,941 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $10,174,000 after acquiring an additional 2,426 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 202.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 564,022 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $130,983,000 after acquiring an additional 377,414 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 34.7% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 4,577 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,063,000 after acquiring an additional 1,178 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays set a $298.00 price objective on CME Group and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $305.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $261.93.

CME Group Trading Up 2.3%

NASDAQ CME traded up $6.34 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $287.10. 1,726,168 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,223,672. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $276.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $264.36. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.62 and a 1-year high of $290.79. The firm has a market cap of $103.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.79, a PEG ratio of 4.99 and a beta of 0.44. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.05. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 58.48%. The firm 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.40%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, Director William R. Shepard bought 256 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were bought at an average price of $270.53 per share, with a total value of $69,255.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 258,196 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,849,763.88. This represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Charles P. Carey sold 500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.35, for a total value of $132,675.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,300,215. The trade was a 9.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,750 shares of company stock valued at $1,576,294. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

CME Group Profile

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.