Danske Bank A S Increases Stake in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Danske Bank boosted its stake in CME by 12.5% in Q4 to 221,150 shares (about $60.4M), joining other institutions in lifting ownership to roughly 87.75% of the stock.
• CME posted a beat with EPS $3.36 vs $3.11 and revenue of $1.88B (up 14.5% year‑over‑year), indicating strong quarterly results.
• The firm raised its quarterly dividend to $1.30 (annualized $5.20, 1.8% yield), while analysts have a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $305.29 price target.

Danske Bank A S boosted its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 12.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 221,150 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 24,521 shares during the quarter. Danske Bank A S owned 0.06% of CME Group worth $60,392,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Truist Financial Corp increased its position in CME Group by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 70,712 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $19,106,000 after purchasing an additional 5,773 shares in the last quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC increased its position in CME Group by 86.0% during the 3rd quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 29,223 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,896,000 after purchasing an additional 13,512 shares in the last quarter. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in CME Group by 85.2% during the 3rd quarter. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,519 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,302,000 after purchasing an additional 3,919 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in CME Group by 345.2% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 237,898 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $64,965,000 after purchasing an additional 184,459 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its position in CME Group by 78.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 13,281 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,588,000 after purchasing an additional 5,855 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on CME shares. Wall Street Zen cut CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, April 26th. Barclays reduced their target price 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. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on CME Group from $362.00 to $353.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Argus reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of CME Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on CME Group from $295.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $305.29.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ CME opened at $289.54 on Friday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $303.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $286.58. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $257.17 and a twelve month high of $329.16. The company has a market capitalization of $103.84 billion, a PE ratio of 24.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.26. 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 (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.80 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 12.26 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a boost from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 10th. CME Group's payout ratio is currently 44.37%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.90, for a total transaction of $91,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 24,999 shares in the company, valued at $7,647,194.10. This represents a 1.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.65, for a total value of $1,300,530.00. Following the sale, the director owned 43,007 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,317,117.55. This represents a 8.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,539 shares of company stock valued at $2,713,821. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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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