Westpac Banking Corp Takes Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Westpac Banking Corp acquired 14,330 CME Group shares worth approximately $3.16 million in the second quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 87.75% of CME’s outstanding stock.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: nine analysts rate CME a Buy, six rate it Hold and three rate it Sell, resulting in a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $288.56.
• CME Group surpassed quarterly expectations with $2.99 in earnings per share and $1.71 billion in revenue. The company also declared a $1.30 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a 1.9% yield.

Westpac Banking Corp acquired a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 14,330 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,164,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 1,037 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in CME Group by 103.1% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,692 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,018,000 after buying an additional 121,707 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in CME Group by 1,325.2% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 23,572 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,497,000 after acquiring an additional 21,918 shares during the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $992,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in CME Group by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 287,876 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $79,344,000 after acquiring an additional 7,397 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of CME Group from $323.00 to $273.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Erste Group Bank lowered CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on CME Group from $324.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Bank of America increased their target price on CME Group from $226.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on CME Group from $310.00 to $260.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 6th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $288.56.

CME Group Trading Up 1.5%

CME opened at $274.98 on Friday. The firm's fifty day moving average is $251.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $279.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $98.88 billion, a PE ratio of 23.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.23. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $218.31 and a twelve month high of $329.16.

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

CME Group Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard bought 325 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $230.57 per share, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 0.12% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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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