KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Purchases 7,800 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS increased its holdings in CME Group Inc. by 4.4%, acquiring an additional 7,800 shares, bringing their total ownership to 185,487 shares valued at approximately $51.12 million.
• Several hedge funds, including GQG Partners LLC and Wellington Management Group LLP, significantly boosted their stakes in CME Group during Q1, highlighting increasing institutional interest.
• Equity analysts remain optimistic, with several firms raising their price targets for CME Group, suggesting a continued bullish outlook for the stock.

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lifted its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 4.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 185,487 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,800 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS owned 0.05% of CME Group worth $51,124,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CME. GQG Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 7,676.3% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 2,205,041 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $584,975,000 after buying an additional 2,176,685 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in CME Group by 370.5% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,653,957 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $704,068,000 after acquiring an additional 2,089,935 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in CME Group during the 1st quarter valued at $218,842,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in CME Group by 185.5% in the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,244,608 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $330,182,000 after purchasing an additional 808,740 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Egerton Capital UK LLP lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 79.4% in the 1st quarter. Egerton Capital UK LLP now owns 1,730,194 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $459,003,000 after purchasing an additional 765,773 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Citigroup raised CME Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $275.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on CME Group from $303.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $274.15.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME Group stock opened at $262.05 on Tuesday. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $213.94 and a twelve month high of $290.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market capitalization of $94.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.37, a PEG ratio of 5.57 and a beta of 0.41. The stock's 50 day moving average is $269.74 and its 200 day moving average is $271.16.

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

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th were paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.40%.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 392 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.00, for a total value of $102,704.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 7,851 shares in the company, valued at $2,056,962. The trade was a 4.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.47, for a total value of $3,229,407.12. Following the sale, the insider owned 17,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,734,436.80. This represents a 40.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,043 shares of company stock valued at $3,527,956 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

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