Swedbank AB Increases Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Swedbank AB increased its CME Group stake by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, ending with 190,657 shares valued at about $52.1 million.
• Insider selling picked up recently, with CEO Terrence A. Duffy and insider Hilda Harris Piell selling shares; insiders sold 44,044 shares worth roughly $13.3 million over the last three months.
• CME Group reported better-than-expected Q1 results, including EPS of $3.36 on revenue of $1.88 billion, and also declared a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share.

Swedbank AB lifted its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 190,657 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 7,670 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned 0.05% of CME Group worth $52,065,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CME. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 11.5% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,027 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,660,000 after acquiring an additional 1,037 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 103.1% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,692 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,018,000 after acquiring an additional 121,707 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 1,325.2% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 23,572 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,497,000 after acquiring an additional 21,918 shares in the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $992,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in CME Group by 2.6% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total value of $10,447,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,606,111.30. This represents a 38.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total value of $1,752,536.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 27,702 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,438,860.26. This represents a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 44,044 shares of company stock worth $13,297,507. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CME shares. Wall Street Zen lowered CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Sunday, April 26th. Erste Group Bank raised CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Argus reissued a "hold" rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on CME Group from $362.00 to $353.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on CME Group from $356.00 to $349.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $305.29.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME stock opened at $291.23 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $105.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.85, a PEG ratio of 3.52 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. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $296.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $289.29. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $257.17 and a 52 week high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.80 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 44.37%.

About CME Group

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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