Royal Bank of Canada Has $879.05 Million Stock Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada reduced its stake in CME Group by 0.1%, owning approximately 3.31 million shares valued at $879 million at the end of the first quarter.
• CME Group reported earnings of $2.96 per share, exceeding analyst estimates of $2.91, with revenues of $1.69 billion, a 10.4% increase from last year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.25, which will be paid on September 25th, providing an annualized dividend yield of 1.9%.

Royal Bank of Canada decreased its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 0.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,313,552 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 2,625 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 0.92% of CME Group worth $879,051,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. ICW Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 7.1% during the first quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,227 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $325,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Alamea Verwaltungs GmbH bought a new stake in CME Group in the 1st quarter valued at $873,000. MAI Capital Management increased its holdings in CME Group by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 52,306 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $13,876,000 after buying an additional 601 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new stake in CME Group in the 1st quarter valued at $274,000. Finally, Saudi Central Bank bought a new stake in CME Group in the 1st quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.35, for a total transaction of $132,675.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,900 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,300,215. This represents a 9.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director William R. Shepard purchased 256 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $270.53 per share, with a total value of $69,255.68. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Trading Up 1.5%

CME Group stock traded up $3.95 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $269.35. 2,136,475 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,773,067. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.38 and a fifty-two week high of $290.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.07, a PEG ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 0.43. The firm's 50 day moving average is $275.39 and its 200-day moving average is $269.61.

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

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Investors 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 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on CME. Barclays set a $298.00 price target on shares of CME Group and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, July 13th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.