Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ Purchases Shares of 119,588 CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ acquired a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 119,588 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $27,772,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 50.4% in the 4th quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 17,335 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,026,000 after purchasing an additional 5,810 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $59,241,000. LM Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $822,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $94,000. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,991 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $711,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME stock traded up $1.82 on Friday, hitting $287.69. 4,721,408 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,198,405. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $290.10. The stock has a market cap of $103.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a 50 day moving average of $269.98 and a 200 day moving average of $251.08.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.19. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.50 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.30%.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total transaction of $81,951.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 24,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,765,601.39. This represents a 1.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. This represents a 15.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 24,400 shares of company stock worth $6,533,180. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $269.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $287.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $256.80.

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.