Nuveen LLC Purchases New Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group Inc. during the first quarter, purchasing 824,917 shares valued at approximately $218.8 million, giving them about 0.23% ownership in the company.
• CME Group recently reported earnings of $2.96 per share for the quarter, exceeding expectations and showing a 10.4% year-over-year revenue growth to approximately $1.69 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.25 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.7%, set to be paid on September 25th to stockholders of record.

Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 824,917 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $218,842,000. Nuveen LLC owned 0.23% of CME Group as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 122.2% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 612.5% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in CME Group during the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on CME shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $305.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup raised their price target on CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Barclays set a $298.00 price target on CME Group and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $261.93.

CME Group Trading Up 0.3%

CME stock traded up $0.78 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $274.70. 1,971,002 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,347,696. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $275.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $266.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $99.00 billion, a PE ratio of 26.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 0.44. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $204.16 and a one year high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 58.48%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.56 earnings per share. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.40%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Daniel G. Kaye sold 500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.42, for a total value of $141,210.00. Following the sale, the director owned 3,668 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,035,916.56. This trade represents a 12.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director William R. Shepard purchased 256 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $270.53 per share, with a total value of $69,255.68. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 258,196 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,849,763.88. This represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 2,450 shares of company stock worth $676,663. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CME Group 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.