Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Acquires 69,196 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in CME Group Inc. by 60.8%, accumulating 69,196 shares during the second quarter, bringing its total ownership to 183,032 shares valued at approximately $50.4 million.
• Multiple analysts have updated their ratings and price targets for CME Group, with Piper Sandler raising their target from $283 to $296, while others have reduced targets or changed ratings to 'Sell'.
• CME Group announced a quarterly dividend of $1.25 per share, with a yield of 1.9%, indicating a healthy return for shareholders.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 60.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 183,032 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 69,196 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.05% of CME Group worth $50,447,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its position in CME Group by 4.2% in the second quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 69,361 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $19,117,000 after acquiring an additional 2,798 shares during the period. Perkins Coie Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $620,000. CWC Advisors LLC. grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. CWC Advisors LLC. now owns 4,725 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,302,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 9.8% during the second quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 15,262 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,207,000 after buying an additional 1,358 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in CME Group during the second quarter worth about $1,507,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on CME. Piper Sandler increased their price target on CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen cut CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, July 13th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut shares of CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $260.60.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 379 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.83, for a total transaction of $98,475.57. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,508 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,470,463.64. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director William R. Shepard bought 256 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $270.53 per share, for a total transaction of $69,255.68. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 258,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $69,849,763.88. This represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 13,043 shares of company stock valued at $3,527,956. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $261.53 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $212.38 and a 52-week high of $290.79. The stock has a market cap of $94.25 billion, a PE ratio of 25.32, a PEG ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $271.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $270.70.

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

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business 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 is Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.40%.

CME Group Company 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.

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