Impax Asset Management Group plc Raises Stock Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its stake in CME Group by 6.9% in Q4, adding 3,899 shares to hold 60,571 shares valued at $16,541,000.
• CME Group reported record Q1 revenue and trading volumes, beating expectations with EPS of $3.36 versus a $3.11 consensus and revenue of $1.88 billion (up 14.5% year-over-year).
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $1.30 (annualized $5.20, yield 1.8%); institutional investors own 87.75% of the stock and analysts' consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with an average target near $306.71.

Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,571 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,899 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc's holdings in CME Group were worth $16,541,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 32.4% during the fourth quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,034 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 460.9% during the fourth quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 68,463 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $18,696,000 after acquiring an additional 56,256 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. grew its stake in CME Group by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 3,122 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $853,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Enterprises LLC purchased a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $394,000. Finally, Sage Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Sage Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,439 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $939,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about CME Group

Here are the key news stories impacting CME Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Record Q1 revenue and volumes: CME reported record Q1 revenue and a surge in trading volumes, driven by higher hedging and risk-management activity — a core driver of futures and options trading revenue. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Earnings-call commentary backs the volume story: Management emphasized broad-based demand and rising market risk that is increasing hedging flows — a positive outlook for transaction-driven revenue. Article Title Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Full earnings transcript available for deeper color: Investors can review management's detail on volume drivers and segment performance. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple analysts trimmed price targets but kept constructive ratings: Deutsche Bank cut its PT to $322 (keeps buy) and TD Cowen cut to $323 (keeps buy); Morgan Stanley trimmed to $353 but retained overweight — these lower targets reflect model updates despite continued positive ratings. Article Title Article Title Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: No meaningful short-interest signal: the short-interest data published for April is effectively zero/unchanged and does not explain the move. (No linked article.)
• Negative Sentiment: Goldman maintains a sell rating and lowered its PT to $267 — the most bearish big-bank view in the group and a direct negative for sentiment. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Mixed market reaction and some headline takes that Q1 sales missed analyst expectations or that the stock looks expensive post-earnings — these narratives can pressure short-term price action despite strong volume trends. Article Title Article Title

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on CME shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of CME Group from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $295.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $266.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of CME Group from $343.00 to $316.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $306.71.

CME Group Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $285.02 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $257.17 and a 52 week high of $329.16. The firm's fifty day moving average is $304.51 and its 200 day moving average is $286.07. The company has a market cap of $102.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.32, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.26.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.80 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.26 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 10th. This is an increase from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. CME Group's payout ratio is presently 46.59%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total transaction of $1,097,120.67. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 7,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,397,597.04. The trade was a 31.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.90, for a total transaction of $91,770.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 24,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,647,194.10. The trade was a 1.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 8,539 shares of company stock valued at $2,713,821 in the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CME? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.