Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. Makes New Investment in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. has invested approximately $1,276,000 in CME Group Inc. by purchasing 4,810 shares during the first quarter of 2023.
• Analyst ratings vary for CME Group, with four analysts rating it as a Buy, nine as Hold, and three as Sell, reflecting a consensus price target of $261.93.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.25 per share, yielding 1.9%, to be paid on September 25th, 2023.

Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. purchased a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 4,810 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,276,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CME. GQG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 7,676.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,176,685 shares during the last quarter. 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 during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 32,941.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,858,887 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $493,144,000 after acquiring an additional 1,853,261 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the first quarter valued at about $218,842,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in CME Group by 185.5% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,244,608 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $330,182,000 after acquiring an additional 808,740 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup increased their target price on CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Piper Sandler increased their target price on CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays set a $298.00 target price on CME Group and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $260.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William R. Shepard bought 256 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 25th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $270.53 per share, with a total value of $69,255.68. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 258,196 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,849,763.88. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 40.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CME Group Stock Down 0.4%

CME stock traded down $1.16 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $260.37. The company had a trading volume of 590,386 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,297,587. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $212.38 and a 52 week high of $290.79. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $274.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $270.18. The company has a market capitalization of $93.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.21, a PEG ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.43.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 58.48%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.56 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. CME Group's payout ratio is 48.40%.

About CME Group

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.