Picton Mahoney Asset Management Buys Shares of 59,083 CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Key Points

• Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired 59,083 shares of CME Group, valued at approximately $15.68 million, indicating growing institutional interest in the financial services provider.
• Several other institutional investors have significantly increased their holdings in CME Group recently, with Price T Rowe Associates raising its stake by 89.9%.
• CME Group reported a Q2 EPS of $2.96, exceeding analysts' expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $1.25, reflecting strong financial performance.

Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 59,083 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $15,676,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 89.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,280,785 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,923,047,000 after acquiring an additional 3,921,278 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 32,941.0% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in CME Group by 38.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,366,786 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $781,869,000 after acquiring an additional 939,679 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in CME Group by 4,216.2% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 922,805 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $214,301,000 after acquiring an additional 901,425 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Egerton Capital UK LLP increased its holdings in CME Group by 79.4% in the 1st quarter. Egerton Capital UK LLP now owns 1,730,194 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $459,003,000 after purchasing an additional 765,773 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.35, for a total transaction of $132,675.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,300,215. This represents a 9.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Daniel G. Kaye sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.42, for a total transaction of $141,210.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,668 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,916.56. This trade represents a 12.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,400 shares of company stock worth $2,881,130 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME stock opened at $274.12 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $98.78 billion, a PE ratio of 26.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.96 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $276.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $263.03. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $193.25 and a 1-year high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released 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. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 58.48%. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.56 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 48.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the topic of several research reports. Erste Group Bank cut CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, July 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $261.93.

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.

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