Erste Asset Management GmbH Acquires New Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Erste Asset Management GmbH has invested approximately $8.68 million in CME Group Inc., acquiring 33,100 shares in the first quarter.
• CME Group recently reported quarterly earnings of $2.96 EPS, exceeding analysts' expectations of $2.91 EPS, with revenue up 10.4% year-over-year.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $1.25 per share, indicating an annual yield of 1.8% and a dividend payout ratio of 48.40%.

Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 33,100 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $8,679,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of CME Group by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,643,827 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $9,190,661,000 after buying an additional 400,737 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of CME Group by 89.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,280,785 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,923,047,000 after buying an additional 3,921,278 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of CME Group by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 4,113,991 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,091,401,000 after buying an additional 363,130 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of CME Group by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,943,454 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $915,788,000 after buying an additional 403,920 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 24.7% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,135,753 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $728,260,000 after buying an additional 621,713 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.35, for a total transaction of $132,675.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,900 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,300,215. The trade was a 9.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director William R. Shepard acquired 256 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $270.53 per share, for a total transaction of $69,255.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 258,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at $69,849,763.88. This represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $305.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $261.93.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME traded down $3.80 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $269.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,591,589 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,923,555. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $275.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $268.50. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $206.44 and a one year high of $290.79. The company has a market cap of $97.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.88 and a beta of 0.44.

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

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. CME Group's payout ratio is currently 48.40%.

CME Group Company 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.