Natixis Advisors LLC Acquires 5,706 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 183,471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,706 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.05% of CME Group worth $49,572,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Korea Investment CORP boosted its position in CME Group by 3.1% during the third quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 236,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $64,002,000 after purchasing an additional 7,120 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL raised its holdings in CME Group by 2.3% in the third quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 146,632 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,619,000 after purchasing an additional 3,227 shares in the last quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 32.3% during the third quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 22,754 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,148,000 after buying an additional 5,554 shares during the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 1.6% during the third quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,442,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 18.6% in the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,257,000 after buying an additional 1,313 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $305.90, for a total value of $91,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 24,999 shares in the company, valued at $7,647,194.10. This trade represents a 1.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total value of $6,738,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 65,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,737,468.20. The trade was a 27.53% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 30,248 shares of company stock valued at $8,355,450. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Raymond James Financial lowered their target price on shares of CME Group from $311.00 to $310.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $300.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on CME Group from $264.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on CME Group from $295.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $302.71.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $319.09 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $115.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.59, a PEG ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $292.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $278.00. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $248.53 and a 52 week high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by $0.02. CME Group had a net margin of 62.45% and a return on equity of 14.65%. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.52 EPS. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 44.80%.

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.