Dearborn Partners LLC Boosts Stock Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Dearborn Partners LLC dramatically increased its stake in CME Group, boosting holdings by 712.2% in the fourth quarter to 94,608 shares worth about $25.8 million.
• CME Group reported better-than-expected earnings for the latest quarter, posting EPS of $3.36 versus estimates of $3.11, while revenue rose 14.5% year over year to $1.88 billion.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, payable June 25, and analysts currently have a Hold consensus rating with an average price target of $305.29.

Dearborn Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 712.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 94,608 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 82,960 shares during the quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $25,835,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 11.5% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,027 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,660,000 after acquiring an additional 1,037 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in CME Group by 103.1% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,692 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,018,000 after acquiring an additional 121,707 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in CME Group by 1,325.2% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 23,572 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,497,000 after acquiring an additional 21,918 shares during the period. Nebula Research & Development LLC purchased a new position in CME Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $992,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in CME Group by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 287,876 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $79,344,000 after acquiring an additional 7,397 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, April 26th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (a-)" rating on shares of CME Group in a report on Friday, May 29th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on CME Group from $356.00 to $349.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on CME Group from $342.00 to $322.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on CME Group from $313.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $305.29.

CME Group Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $257.40 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $288.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $288.60. The firm has a market cap of $93.27 billion, a PE ratio of 21.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.21. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $244.56 and a twelve month high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.CME Group's revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.80 EPS. Analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business 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 $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group's payout ratio is presently 44.37%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total value of $10,447,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,630 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,606,111.30. The trade was a 38.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total value of $1,752,536.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,438,860.26. The trade was a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 44,044 shares of company stock valued at $13,297,507. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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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