Rathbones Group PLC Increases Stock Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Rathbones Group PLC increased its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 999,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,602 shares during the period. CME Group accounts for 0.8% of Rathbones Group PLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Rathbones Group PLC owned approximately 0.28% of CME Group worth $272,952,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CME. Caldwell Trust Co grew its holdings in CME Group by 116.3% during the 3rd quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 93 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the third quarter worth about $27,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Financial Consulate Inc. purchased a new position in CME Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Sagard Holdings Management Inc. purchased a new position in CME Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Price Performance

CME opened at $305.11 on Monday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $304.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $283.25. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $248.53 and a 52 week high of $329.16. 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 stock has a market cap of $109.42 billion, a PE ratio of 27.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.26.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.65% and a net margin of 62.45%.The company’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.52 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. CME Group’s payout ratio is 46.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.65, for a total value of $1,300,530.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 43,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,317,117.55. The trade was a 8.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $224,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,699 shares in the company, valued at approximately $809,700. This represents a 21.70% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 8,539 shares of company stock worth $2,713,821 in the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $262.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $302.00 to $356.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Raymond James Financial dropped their price objective on CME Group from $311.00 to $310.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Erste Group Bank upgraded CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price target on CME Group from $333.00 to $347.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $304.06.

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.