T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. significantly increased its stake in CME Group by over 1,927% during Q1, acquiring a total of 521,218 shares, valued at approximately $138.27 million.
• The stock price of CME Group has shown a 12-month high of $290.79 and a current market capitalization of $98.50 billion.
• CME Group announced a quarterly dividend of $1.25 per share, with a yield of 1.8%, set to be paid on September 25th.

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 1,927.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 521,218 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 495,505 shares during the quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.14% of CME Group worth $138,274,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,643,827 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $9,190,661,000 after acquiring an additional 400,737 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 4,113,991 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,091,401,000 after acquiring an additional 363,130 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,943,454 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $915,788,000 after acquiring an additional 403,920 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 24.7% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,135,753 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $728,260,000 after acquiring an additional 621,713 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in CME Group by 29.9% during the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,818,590 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $747,744,000 after buying an additional 648,591 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

CME Group Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ CME traded up $1.87 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $271.39. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,701,847 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,322,310. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $275.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $268.67. 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 stock has a market cap of $97.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.27, a P/E/G ratio of 4.88 and a beta of 0.44. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $207.10 and a 12 month high of $290.79.

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

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be given a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 9th. CME Group's payout ratio is currently 48.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director William R. Shepard bought 256 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $270.53 per share, for a total transaction of $69,255.68. Following the purchase, the director owned 258,196 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,849,763.88. This represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Charles P. Carey sold 500 shares of the company'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 owned 4,900 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,300,215. This trade represents a 9.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on CME shares. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $305.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays set a $298.00 price objective on CME Group and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $261.93.

CME Group 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.