Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Takes $59.24 Million Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 255,097 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $59,241,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned about 0.07% of CME Group at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in CME Group by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,243,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,952,273,000 after purchasing an additional 326,623 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,389,442 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,946,717,000 after purchasing an additional 104,697 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 89.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,280,785 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,923,047,000 after buying an additional 3,921,278 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,107,389,000. Finally, FIL Ltd grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 4,081,391 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $947,821,000 after buying an additional 61,908 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

CME Group Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of CME traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $285.87. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,486,147 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,185,228. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company's 50-day moving average is $269.01 and its 200-day moving average is $250.25. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $287.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $103.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.56, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. CME Group's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.50 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.30%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total transaction of $81,951.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 24,767 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,765,601.39. This represents a 1.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Derek Sammann sold 4,650 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.61, for a total value of $1,304,836.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,336 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,339,164.96. The trade was a 35.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,400 shares of company stock valued at $6,533,180 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Raymond James raised shares of CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $287.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $269.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $256.80.

CME Group Company 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.