Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Acquires 6,868 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 186,588 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,868 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank owned about 0.05% of CME Group worth $50,953,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Truist Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 8.9% in the third quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 70,712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,106,000 after purchasing an additional 5,773 shares during the last quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 86.0% during the third quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 29,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,896,000 after purchasing an additional 13,512 shares during the last quarter. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 85.2% during the third quarter. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,302,000 after purchasing an additional 3,919 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in CME Group by 345.2% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 237,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $64,965,000 after purchasing an additional 184,459 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its position in CME Group by 78.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 13,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,588,000 after purchasing an additional 5,855 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $287.45 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $305.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $285.78. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $251.90 and a 1-year high of $329.16. The firm has a market cap of $103.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.65% and a net margin of 62.45%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.52 EPS. Analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.33 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company 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. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 46.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research report on Friday, February 6th. TD Cowen upped their target price on CME Group from $328.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings raised CME Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised CME Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods initiated coverage on CME Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $305.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $309.94.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total value of $1,097,120.67. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 7,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,397,597.04. This represents a 31.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $224,400.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $809,700. This represents a 21.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 8,539 shares of company stock valued at $2,713,821. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.