CME Group Inc. $CME is AQR Capital Management LLC's 7th Largest Position

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC has increased its stake in CME Group Inc. by 10.3%, now holding 2,783,759 shares, making it the firm's 7th largest position in its portfolio.
• The company's recent quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $2.96, surpassing analysts' expectations and reflecting a 10.4% year-over-year revenue increase.
• CME Group announced a quarterly dividend of $1.25, which results in an annualized dividend yield of 1.9%.

AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 10.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,783,759 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 260,065 shares during the quarter. CME Group makes up approximately 0.8% of AQR Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 0.77% of CME Group worth $735,539,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.47, for a total value of $3,229,407.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 17,440 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,734,436.80. The trade was a 40.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on CME shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Wall Street Zen cut CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 13th. Erste Group Bank cut CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Barclays set a $298.00 price objective on CME Group and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $261.93.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $265.40 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market cap of $95.64 billion, a PE ratio of 25.69, a P/E/G ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 0.43. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $275.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $269.61. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $207.75 and a fifty-two week high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.05. The business 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.40%.

About CME Group

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CME? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.