Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 588,509 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Vanguard increased its stake by 588,509 shares in Q4 to own 35,895,583 shares — about 9.95% of CME Group, valued at roughly $9.8 billion.
• CME reported a strong Q1 with record revenue and surging trading volumes, beating EPS estimates ($3.36 vs. $3.11) and posting $1.88 billion in revenue, up 14.5% year-over-year.
• Several analysts trimmed price targets but kept constructive ratings; CME's consensus rating is a Moderate Buy with a consensus target price of $306.71.

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,895,583 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 588,509 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 9.95% of CME Group worth $9,802,366,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Caldwell Trust Co raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 116.3% during the 3rd quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 93 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 64.9% during the 4th quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA acquired a new position in CME Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new position in CME Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of CME Group from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Barclays cut their price target on shares of CME Group from $343.00 to $316.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of CME Group from $362.00 to $353.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut their price target on shares of CME Group from $347.00 to $340.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $306.71.

CME Group Stock Down 0.2%

NASDAQ:CME opened at $285.02 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $102.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.32, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.26. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $257.17 and a 1-year high of $329.16. The company's fifty day moving average price is $304.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $286.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for 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%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.80 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.26 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a boost from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 10th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.37%.

CME Group News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Record Q1 revenue and volumes: CME reported record Q1 revenue and a surge in trading volumes, driven by higher hedging and risk-management activity — a core driver of futures and options trading revenue. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Earnings-call commentary backs the volume story: Management emphasized broad-based demand and rising market risk that is increasing hedging flows — a positive outlook for transaction-driven revenue. Article Title Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Full earnings transcript available for deeper color: Investors can review management's detail on volume drivers and segment performance. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple analysts trimmed price targets but kept constructive ratings: Deutsche Bank cut its PT to $322 (keeps buy) and TD Cowen cut to $323 (keeps buy); Morgan Stanley trimmed to $353 but retained overweight — these lower targets reflect model updates despite continued positive ratings. Article Title Article Title Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: No meaningful short-interest signal: the short-interest data published for April is effectively zero/unchanged and does not explain the move. (No linked article.)
• Negative Sentiment: Goldman maintains a sell rating and lowered its PT to $267 — the most bearish big-bank view in the group and a direct negative for sentiment. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Mixed market reaction and some headline takes that Q1 sales missed analyst expectations or that the stock looks expensive post-earnings — these narratives can pressure short-term price action despite strong volume trends. Article Title Article Title

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.90, for a total transaction of $91,770.00. Following the sale, the director owned 24,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,647,194.10. This trade represents a 1.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.65, for a total transaction of $1,300,530.00. Following the sale, the director owned 43,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,317,117.55. This represents a 8.90% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 8,539 shares of company stock worth $2,713,821 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

CME Group 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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