Swedbank AB Boosts Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

Swedbank AB grew its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 81.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 180,399 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 81,104 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned 0.05% of CME Group worth $49,722,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new position in CME Group during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Webster Bank N. A. boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 206.9% in the 2nd quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 89 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted 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 during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, July 13th. Barclays set a $298.00 price target on shares of CME Group and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $260.60.

CME Group Price Performance

NASDAQ CME opened at $260.59 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $93.91 billion, a PE ratio of 25.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.43. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $212.38 and a 52 week high of $290.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $272.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $270.52.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.56 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.47, for a total transaction of $3,229,407.12. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 17,440 shares in the company, valued at $4,734,436.80. This represents a 40.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director William R. Shepard purchased 256 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were bought at an average price of $270.53 per share, for a total transaction of $69,255.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 258,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $69,849,763.88. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 13,043 shares of company stock valued at $3,527,956. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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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