Mariner LLC Boosts Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Mariner LLC increased its CME Group stake by 22.4% in the fourth quarter, adding 62,727 shares to bring its total to 342,166 shares valued at about $93.4 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains mostly positive, with CME carrying a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $305.71, even after a mix of upgrades and downgrades from several firms.
• CME reported solid quarterly results and raised income for shareholders, beating earnings and revenue estimates, while also ঘোষণাing a $1.30 quarterly dividend payable June 25 for a 2.0% annualized yield.

Mariner LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 22.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 342,166 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 62,727 shares during the period. Mariner LLC owned 0.09% of CME Group worth $93,436,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. West Family Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in CME Group by 1.2% in the third quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 3,062 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $827,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 64.9% in the fourth quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 11,523 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,147,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 4.3% in the third quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 898 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1248 Management LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 26.8% in the third quarter. 1248 Management LLC now owns 180 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on CME. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded CME Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $316.00 to $323.00 in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings cut CME Group from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $329.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Monday. Erste Group Bank cut CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on CME Group from $362.00 to $353.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $305.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total transaction of $1,752,536.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 27,702 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,438,860.26. The trade was a 17.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total value of $10,447,850.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,630 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,606,111.30. This represents a 38.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CME Group Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $266.08 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The business's 50 day moving average price is $284.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $288.08. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $244.56 and a fifty-two week high of $329.16. The company has a market cap of $96.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.70, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.21.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.80 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.37%.

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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