Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lowered its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,858 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,647 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd's holdings in CME Group were worth $14,981,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 11.5% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,027 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,660,000 after buying an additional 1,037 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in CME Group by 103.1% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,692 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,018,000 after buying an additional 121,707 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in CME Group by 1,325.2% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 23,572 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,497,000 after buying an additional 21,918 shares during the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC purchased a new stake in CME Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $992,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in CME Group by 2.6% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 287,876 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $79,344,000 after buying an additional 7,397 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CME. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on CME Group from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Argus reissued a "hold" rating on shares of CME Group in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their target price on CME Group from $340.00 to $316.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 27th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on CME Group from $340.00 to $323.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on CME Group from $356.00 to $349.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $305.29.
Read Our Latest Analysis on CME Group
Key Stories Impacting CME Group
Here are the key news stories impacting CME Group this week:
Insider Transactions at CME Group
In other CME Group news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.65, for a total value of $1,300,530.00. Following the sale, the director owned 43,007 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,317,117.55. This represents a 8.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total value of $1,097,120.67. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 7,192 shares in the company, valued at $2,397,597.04. This trade represents a 31.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 8,539 shares of company stock worth $2,713,821 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
CME Group Stock Up 0.5%
CME Group stock opened at $288.34 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $104.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.23. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $257.17 and a fifty-two week high of $329.16. The stock's fifty day moving average is $302.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $287.14.
CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.CME Group's revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.80 earnings per share. Analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 12.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.
CME Group Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. This is a positive change from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 10th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 44.37%.
CME Group Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
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