CME Group Inc. $CME Stake Increased by Auto Owners Insurance Co

Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 27,208.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 534,964 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 533,005 shares during the period. Auto Owners Insurance Co owned about 0.15% of CME Group worth $14,609,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Union Savings Bank bought a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $379,000. Storen Legacy Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Bayban bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Pure Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $239,000. Finally, Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 968 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $264,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on CME. Weiss Ratings cut CME Group from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Erste Group Bank lowered CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. TD Cowen cut their target price on CME Group from $340.00 to $323.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on CME Group from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of CME Group in a research report on Monday. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $305.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 55,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,606,111.30. The trade was a 38.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total transaction of $1,752,536.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,438,860.26. This represents a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

More CME Group News

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

• Positive Sentiment: CME continues to be highlighted as a dividend and value stock, with analysts noting its strong capital returns, electronic trading growth, and global product expansion could support a long-term rebound. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: One market note said CME may be undervalued after the CEO succession announcement, suggesting the stock could have upside if investors view the leadership transition as orderly. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: CME named longtime finance chief Julie Winkler as its next CEO, while Terry Duffy will step into an executive chairman role; the move appears planned and may reduce uncertainty, but it also marks a major leadership change. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: The company is also taking legal action against the CFTC over approval of perpetual crypto futures, arguing the products should be treated as swaps rather than futures. The case could affect CME’s role in crypto derivatives, but the financial impact is still uncertain. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Goldman Sachs kept a Sell rating on CME and trimmed its price target, citing leadership transition risk and regulatory uncertainty, which may be weighing on sentiment. Article Title

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $246.38 on Friday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $279.61 and its 200-day moving average is $287.21. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $244.56 and a 52-week high of $329.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $89.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.02, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.21.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. The company's revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.80 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $1.30 per share. 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 2.1%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.37%.

CME Group 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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