CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Bought by HighTower Advisors LLC

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, buying an additional 22,692 shares and bringing its total to 352,922 shares worth about $96.4 million.
• Several other institutional investors also raised their positions, and institutional ownership remains very high at 87.75% of CME Group’s stock.
• CME Group posted better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $3.36 and revenue of $1.88 billion, while also declaring a $1.30 quarterly dividend that implies a 1.7% annual yield.

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 6.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 352,922 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 22,692 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC owned about 0.10% of CME Group worth $96,376,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 8.9% in the third quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 70,712 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $19,106,000 after buying an additional 5,773 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 78.8% in the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 13,281 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,588,000 after buying an additional 5,855 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 345.2% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 237,898 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $64,965,000 after buying an additional 184,459 shares during the period. Dover Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 95.5% in the third quarter. Dover Advisors LLC now owns 5,597 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,512,000 after buying an additional 2,734 shares during the period. Finally, Keybank National Association OH boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 15.4% in the third quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 153,625 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $41,508,000 after buying an additional 20,477 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total value of $1,097,120.67. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 7,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,397,597.04. This trade represents a 31.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total transaction of $10,447,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,606,111.30. This represents a 38.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 48,544 shares of company stock valued at $14,689,807. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CME has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, April 26th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of CME Group from $340.00 to $323.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of CME Group from $342.00 to $322.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of CME Group from $356.00 to $349.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $305.29.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME opened at $302.37 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $109.57 billion, a PE ratio of 25.80, a PEG ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.23. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $297.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $288.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $257.17 and a twelve 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.80 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.37%.

Trending Headlines about CME Group

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

• Positive Sentiment: CME continues to benefit from solid fundamentals, including a recent earnings beat with stronger-than-expected revenue and EPS, plus a healthy dividend that supports shareholder returns.
• Positive Sentiment: New activity in CME-linked derivatives products, including growing interest in interest-rate and crypto-related futures, suggests the exchange remains well positioned to capture trading volume and product demand.
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary also noted CME as an alternative for investors concerned about correlation risk, which reflects the company’s role as a defensive financial market infrastructure name.
• Neutral Sentiment: The company adjourned voting on Class B proposals after a quorum shortfall at its 2026 annual meeting, a procedural issue that is unlikely to change the business outlook but may keep some attention on governance matters. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Terrence Duffy sold 35,000 shares and insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares, which can weigh on sentiment because investors often view insider selling as a cautious signal. Article Title

About CME Group

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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