CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Purchased by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management massively increased its stake in CME Group, boosting holdings by 2,225.6% in the first quarter to 245,629 shares worth about $72.5 million.
• CME Group reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.36 beating estimates and revenue of $1.88 billion topping forecasts; revenue rose 14.5% year over year.
• The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, while analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with an average target price of $302.24.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 2,225.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 245,629 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 235,067 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.07% of CME Group worth $72,547,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CME. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 345.2% in the 4th 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 last quarter. FLC Capital Advisors bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,122,000. First Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth about $1,325,000. London & Capital Asset Management Ltd lifted its holdings in CME Group by 41.6% in the third quarter. London & Capital Asset Management Ltd now owns 191,469 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $51,731,000 after acquiring an additional 56,259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. lifted its holdings in CME Group by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 140,210 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $38,289,000 after acquiring an additional 3,931 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total value of $1,752,536.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares in the company, valued at $8,438,860.26. This trade represents a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 55,630 shares in the company, valued at $16,606,111.30. This represents a 38.62% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $225.00 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $224.40 and a 12-month high of $329.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.21. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $274.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $286.20.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.80 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 44.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on CME. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on CME Group from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on CME Group from $266.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Erste Group Bank lowered CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on CME Group from $275.00 to $267.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of CME Group in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CME Group has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $302.24.

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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