Candriam S.C.A. Buys 14,160 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Candriam S.C.A. increased its stake in CME Group Inc. by 20.6% in the 1st quarter, bringing its holdings to $22.03 million after acquiring 14,160 additional shares.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.25 per share, set to be paid on September 25, representing an annualized dividend of $5.00 and a yield of 1.8%.
• CME Group's stock has shown strong performance with a 10.4% year-over-year revenue increase and reported earnings per share of $2.96, exceeding the consensus estimate.

Candriam S.C.A. increased its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 20.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 83,044 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 14,160 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.'s holdings in CME Group were worth $22,031,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new stake in CME Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its holdings in CME Group by 122.2% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in CME Group by 612.5% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in CME Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in CME Group during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CME shares. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $305.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, July 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $261.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.35, for a total value of $132,675.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,900 shares in the company, valued at $1,300,215. This trade represents a 9.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director William R. Shepard purchased 256 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 25th. The stock was 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 owned 258,196 shares of the company's stock, 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. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME traded down $3.80 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $269.52. 1,591,589 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,923,555. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.13 billion, a PE ratio of 26.09, a P/E/G ratio of 4.88 and a beta of 0.44. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $206.44 and a one year high of $290.79. The company's 50 day moving average is $275.82 and its 200 day moving average is $268.50.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 58.48%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.56 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

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