Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Boosts Stake in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Royal London Asset Management increased its CME Group stake by 30.4% in the second quarter, adding 167,126 shares to hold 716,972 shares valued at approximately $158.3 million. Institutional investors collectively own 87.75% of the company.
• CME Group reported quarterly EPS of $2.99, beating estimates of $2.91, while revenue reached $1.71 billion versus expectations of $1.68 billion. The stock opened at $285.80, with analysts holding a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $288.56.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, equivalent to an annualized $5.20 payout and a 1.8% yield; the dividend is scheduled for payment on September 25 to shareholders of record on September 9.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 30.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 716,972 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 167,126 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.20% of CME Group worth $158,329,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 2,075.0% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership bought a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID increased its stake in CME Group by 191.9% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Group LTD purchased a new stake in CME Group in the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, Director William R. Shepard acquired 325 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $230.57 per share, with a total value of $74,935.25. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 260,442 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $60,050,111.94. The trade was a 0.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on CME Group from $249.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on CME Group from $329.00 to $295.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $286.00 to $270.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on CME Group from $324.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $305.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $288.56.

CME Group Stock Up 1.7%

CME opened at $285.80 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $253.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $279.13. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $218.31 and a 52 week high of $329.16. The company has a market capitalization of $102.77 billion, a PE ratio of 24.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 63.30%.The business's revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.96 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 12.27 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 Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.11%.

CME Group Company 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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