ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. Has $9.21 Million Stake in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. increased its stake in CME Group by 18.4% in the fourth quarter, ending with 33,712 shares worth about $9.21 million.
• CME Group posted strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.36 beating estimates and revenue of $1.88 billion topping expectations; revenue rose 14.5% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, equal to an annualized yield of about 1.8%, while analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with a consensus target price of $305.29.

ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. raised its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 18.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,712 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 5,233 shares during the quarter. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V.'s holdings in CME Group were worth $9,206,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CME. MGO One Seven LLC grew its position in CME Group by 15.3% in the fourth quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 37,817 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $10,327,000 after acquiring an additional 5,005 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 125.6% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 26,189 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,152,000 after acquiring an additional 14,580 shares in the last quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC now owns 11,761 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,212,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 23,753 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,486,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Indivisible Partners acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $352,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ CME opened at $281.25 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 50-day simple moving average of $301.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $287.27. 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 company has a market capitalization of $101.91 billion, a PE ratio of 24.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.23.

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

CME Group Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.65, for a total transaction of $1,300,530.00. Following the sale, the director owned 43,007 shares in the company, valued at $13,317,117.55. This represents a 8.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total value of $1,097,120.67. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 7,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,397,597.04. This represents a 31.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 7,791 shares of company stock valued at $2,489,421 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on CME. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on CME Group from $266.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their price target on shares of CME Group from $340.00 to $316.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of CME Group from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of CME Group from $342.00 to $322.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $305.29.

CME Group Company Profile

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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