CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Purchased by Focus Partners Wealth

Key Points

• Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in CME Group by 5.9%, owning 175,537 shares worth approximately $46.5 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and Massachusetts Financial Services Co., also boosted their holdings significantly during the first quarter, indicating strong interest in CME Group.
• CME Group reported a $2.96 EPS for its latest quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations and reflecting a 10.4% year-over-year revenue increase.

Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 5.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 175,537 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 9,703 shares during the quarter. Focus Partners Wealth's holdings in CME Group were worth $46,544,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.2% during the first 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. increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 9.7% during the first 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. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in CME Group by 29.9% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,818,590 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $747,744,000 after buying an additional 648,591 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 10.3% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,783,759 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $735,539,000 after buying an additional 260,065 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 11.9% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,727,809 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $723,660,000 after buying an additional 290,147 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard bought 256 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $270.53 per share, for a total transaction of $69,255.68. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 258,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $69,849,763.88. This represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.47, for a total value of $3,229,407.12. Following the transaction, the insider owned 17,440 shares in the company, valued at $4,734,436.80. This trade represents a 40.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on CME shares. Erste Group Bank lowered CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Barclays set a $298.00 target price on CME Group and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup upped their target price on CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. UBS Group dropped their target price on CME Group from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $260.60.

CME Group Trading Down 0.6%

CME Group stock opened at $259.91 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.38 and a 12 month high of $290.79. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $274.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $270.11. The firm has a market cap of $93.67 billion, a PE ratio of 25.16, a P/E/G ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 0.43.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.56 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

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

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.

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