Carnegie Investment Counsel Buys 5,282 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Carnegie Investment Counsel increased its stake in CME Group by 3.4% in the first quarter, buying 5,282 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 162,478 shares worth about $45.7 million.
• Institutional ownership in CME remains very high at 87.75%, and several other large investors also made major moves in the stock, including new positions and sizable increases.
• CME Group recently beat quarterly expectations with EPS of $3.36 and revenue of $1.88 billion, but analyst sentiment is mixed, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a target price of $293.59.

Carnegie Investment Counsel grew its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 3.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 162,478 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,282 shares during the period. CME Group makes up 0.9% of Carnegie Investment Counsel's investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Carnegie Investment Counsel's holdings in CME Group were worth $45,655,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,523,241,000. Sanders Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,006,932,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in CME Group by 746.4% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,049,649 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $559,720,000 after acquiring an additional 1,807,491 shares during the period. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $217,656,000. Finally, Viking Global Investors LP bought a new position in CME Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $164,648,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $266.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of CME Group from $316.00 to $270.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded shares of CME Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $316.00 to $323.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of CME Group from $267.00 to $245.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $293.59.

CME Group Price Performance

CME Group stock traded up $0.56 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $240.27. 1,979,543 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,891,472. The stock has a market cap of $87.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.50, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.25. The stock's fifty day moving average is $262.66 and its 200-day moving average is $283.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $218.31 and a 12 month high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.25. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.77 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.80 EPS. The business's revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.24 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th were paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is 44.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard purchased 325 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $230.57 per share, with a total value of $74,935.25. Following the transaction, the director owned 260,442 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $60,050,111.94. This trade represents a 0.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total value of $10,447,850.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,630 shares in the company, valued at $16,606,111.30. This trade represents a 38.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key CME Group News

Here are the key news stories impacting CME Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: CME announced new products aimed at expanding trading activity, including Treasury LINK for U.S. Treasury spread trading and a new agriculture index that offers a unified benchmark for the global farm economy. CME Group to launch Treasury LINK for enhanced US Treasury spread trading CME Group's New Agriculture Index Delivers Unified Price Benchmark for the Global Farm Economy
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley kept an overweight rating but lowered its price target on CME to $324 from $353, while Barclays cut its target to $270 and moved to equal weight, signaling reduced near-term expectations but not a fundamentally bearish view. Morgan Stanley cuts CME price target Barclays cuts CME price target
• Negative Sentiment: The CFTC blocked CME’s plan to fast-track 24/7 crude oil futures trading, a setback that could limit a potentially important new revenue stream and raises regulatory risk around product innovation. CFTC to block CME's plan for 24/7 crude oil futures trading CFTC Blocks for Now CME’s Plan to Offer 24/7 Oil Futures
• Negative Sentiment: Reports also pointed to weaker trading volumes and rising competition weighing on CME Group, which could pressure transaction-based revenue growth if activity remains soft. Competition And Weaker Trading Volumes Are Weighing On CME Group (CME) Stock

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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