Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab Buys 11,460 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab lifted its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 37.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 41,767 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 11,460 shares during the period. Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab's holdings in CME Group were worth $11,406,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 11.5% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,027 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,660,000 after buying an additional 1,037 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of CME Group by 103.1% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,692 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,018,000 after buying an additional 121,707 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in shares of CME Group by 1,325.2% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 23,572 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,497,000 after buying an additional 21,918 shares in the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the second quarter worth $992,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of CME Group by 2.6% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 287,876 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $79,344,000 after buying an additional 7,397 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Up 0.2%

CME opened at $287.82 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $103.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.26. The business's 50-day moving average price is $303.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $286.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $257.17 and a 12 month high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.80 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.26 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were issued a $1.30 dividend. This is an increase from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 10th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CME. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on CME Group from $356.00 to $349.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods started coverage on CME Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $305.00 price target on the stock. Erste Group Bank upgraded CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Barclays lowered their price target on CME Group from $343.00 to $316.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised their price target on CME Group from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $305.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $224,400.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,699 shares in the company, valued at approximately $809,700. The trade was a 21.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total value of $1,097,120.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 7,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,397,597.04. This represents a 31.39% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 8,539 shares of company stock worth $2,713,821 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

CME Group Company 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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