Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Takes Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co. acquired 82,896 CME Group shares worth approximately $18.3 million during the second quarter, while institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 87.75% of the company.
• CME Group reported quarterly EPS of $2.99, exceeding estimates of $2.91, while revenue reached $1.71 billion and increased 0.8% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, or $5.20 annualized, representing a 1.9% yield; analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $288.56.

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co bought a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 82,896 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $18,306,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Emerald Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in CME Group in the second quarter valued at $995,000. Westpac Banking Corp purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the second quarter worth about $3,164,000. TRB Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the second quarter worth about $483,000. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the second quarter worth about $12,160,000. Finally, GCQ FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $15,847,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME opened at $274.98 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $218.31 and a fifty-two week high of $329.16. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $251.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $279.65. The company has a market capitalization of $98.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.23.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 63.30%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.96 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.27 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on CME shares. Weiss Ratings cut CME Group from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on CME Group from $324.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on CME Group from $249.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of CME Group from $323.00 to $273.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $288.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In related news, Director William R. Shepard bought 325 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $230.57 per share, with a total value of $74,935.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 260,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,050,111.94. This trade represents a 0.12% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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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