United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund Buys Shares of 10,480 CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• United Super Pty Ltd bought a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter, purchasing 10,480 shares valued at about $2.86 million.
• CME Group continues to attract heavy institutional interest, with investors such as Vanguard and Ameriprise adding shares and institutional ownership at 87.75%.
• The company reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $3.36 beating estimates and revenue of $1.88 billion, while also announcing a $1.30 quarterly dividend payable June 25.

United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund bought a new stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 10,480 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,862,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in CME Group by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,895,583 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $9,802,366,000 after purchasing an additional 588,509 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in CME Group by 2.8% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,812,914 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,300,450,000 after purchasing an additional 130,848 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC bought a new stake in CME Group during the third quarter valued at $1,006,932,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in CME Group by 0.6% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,381,133 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $913,548,000 after purchasing an additional 20,213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in CME Group by 23.0% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,830,323 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $764,725,000 after purchasing an additional 528,358 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the general counsel owned 7,192 shares in the company, valued at $2,397,597.04. This represents a 31.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total transaction of $1,752,536.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 27,702 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,438,860.26. This represents a 17.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 44,044 shares of company stock worth $13,297,507 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME opened at $273.54 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $293.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $289.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.12 billion, a PE ratio of 23.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 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 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 earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. CME Group's revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.80 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 44.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on CME. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods began coverage on shares of CME Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $305.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $313.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of CME Group from $275.00 to $267.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of CME Group from $356.00 to $349.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $305.29.

Key Stories Impacting CME Group

Here are the key news stories impacting CME Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: CME announced that Chairman and CEO Terry Duffy will present at the Piper Sandler Global Exchange and Fintech Conference on June 4, which keeps the company visible to investors and may reinforce its growth story. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage says CME’s planned 24/7 Bitcoin and Ethereum futures trading could attract more institutional crypto volume, which may support future derivatives activity and trading revenue. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: CME also lowered margin requirements on gold and silver futures, a move that may help keep trading active during volatile commodity markets but is not clearly a major fundamental catalyst. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro commentary from the CME floor highlighted sticky inflation and stronger durable goods data, which could keep Fed policy uncertain and sustain trading activity, but the direct impact on CME stock is unclear. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Crypto articles suggesting Bitcoin’s “CME gap” may disappear with round-the-clock trading could reduce the market’s focus on CME-specific weekend price gaps, weakening one of the more visible trading narratives tied to the company’s crypto franchise. Article Title

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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