Mackenzie Financial Corp Lowers Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Mackenzie Financial trimmed its stake in CME by 5.9%, selling 81,199 shares and leaving it with about 1,298,652 shares (≈0.36% of the company) valued at roughly $350.9 million.
• CME beat quarterly expectations (EPS $2.77 vs. $2.75; revenue $1.65B vs. $1.64B), announced a higher quarterly dividend of $1.30 ($5.20 annual, 1.7% yield), and reported record trading volumes and product expansion initiatives.
• Shares fell about 4% amid ex-dividend mechanical pressure, recent insider selling (30,248 shares worth ~$8.36M over three months) and mixed analyst sentiment; the consensus rating is "Hold" with an average price target near $302.71.

Mackenzie Financial Corp decreased its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 5.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,298,652 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 81,199 shares during the quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp owned about 0.36% of CME Group worth $350,883,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Caldwell Trust Co lifted its stake in CME Group by 116.3% in the 3rd quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 93 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Financial Consulate Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Corundum Trust Company INC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the third quarter worth about $30,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Trading Down 4.0%

Shares of CME stock opened at $306.34 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $110.47 billion, a PE ratio of 27.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.24. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $248.53 and a 1 year high of $329.16. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $293.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $278.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.75 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.64 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.65% and a net margin of 62.45%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.52 EPS. Research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a $1.30 dividend. This is a boost from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is 44.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on CME shares. Bank of America boosted their target price on CME Group from $201.00 to $209.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a report on Friday, February 6th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on CME Group from $296.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their price objective on CME Group from $300.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $302.71.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.65, for a total value of $1,300,530.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 43,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,317,117.55. This trade represents a 8.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,647,194.10. This represents a 1.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 30,248 shares of company stock valued at $8,355,450 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

More CME Group News

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

• Positive Sentiment: CME is reporting record trading activity and demand: the energy complex set an all‑time single‑day volume record (8.3M contracts) and the firm touted record monthly futures volume, evidence of strong client flow and fee generation that supports revenues and long‑term earnings. Energy Volume Record
• Positive Sentiment: Product expansion: CME launched new South Asia crude palm oil futures and already recorded initial block trades, showing uptake for new contracts and incremental revenue opportunities from expanded product suites. Palm Oil Futures Launch
• Positive Sentiment: Infrastructure partnership: Tickblaze announced integration of CME futures market data into its platform, which can broaden distribution of CME data products to prop trading shops and institutional users. This supports data‑services revenue potential. Tickblaze Partnership
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusually large options activity: a huge spike in call purchases was reported (very large notional / volume vs typical), which could signal speculative bullish positioning but may also be one‑day noise; treat as mixed short‑term signal.
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest data in recent feeds shows zero/NaN entries and 0 days‑to‑cover — this appears to be a reporting anomaly and should not be read as a material change in short demand.
• Negative Sentiment: Ex‑dividend mechanical pressure: the board declared a large combined payout (~$7.45 per share), and the stock adjusted lower on the ex‑dividend date as expected; that mechanical drop is the main proximate cause of today’s decline. Ex‑Dividend Analysis
• Negative Sentiment: Sell pressure from sentiment and flows: recent profit‑taking after strong run, at least one analyst downgrade and large institutional moves (notably big reductions by some asset managers) and reported insider sales have likely added incremental selling pressure. Analyst / Institutional / Insider Notes

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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