CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Acquired by Madison Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Madison Asset Management increased its stake in CME Group by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, ending with 110,567 shares valued at about $30.2 million.
• Several insiders sold stock recently, including Director Bryan T. Durkin and Director Martin J. Gepsman, with insiders selling 7,791 shares total over the last 90 days.
• CME Group beat quarterly earnings estimates with EPS of $3.36 versus $3.11 expected and revenue of $1.88 billion, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share.

Madison Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 110,567 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,194 shares during the period. Madison Asset Management LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $30,194,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CME. West Family Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of CME Group by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 3,062 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $827,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 64.9% during the 4th quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lifted its stake in CME Group by 4.3% during the third quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 898 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Atlatl Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 1.8% in the third quarter. Atlatl Advisers LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $574,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, 1248 Management LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 26.8% during the third quarter. 1248 Management LLC now owns 180 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director directly owned 43,007 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,317,117.55. The trade was a 8.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.90, for a total transaction of $91,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 24,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,647,194.10. The trade was a 1.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 7,791 shares of company stock worth $2,489,421 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of CME Group from $275.00 to $267.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $295.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $342.00 to $322.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods assumed coverage on CME Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $305.00 target price for the company. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on CME Group from $340.00 to $323.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $305.29.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME opened at $285.75 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $103.54 billion, a PE ratio of 24.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $299.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $287.59. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $257.17 and a 52-week high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.80 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

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

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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