J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Has $111.94 Million Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG boosted its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 379,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,408 shares during the quarter. CME Group makes up approximately 1.9% of J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG owned 0.10% of CME Group worth $111,940,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 64.9% in the fourth quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 2,075.0% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $240.27 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $262.66 and a 200-day moving average of $283.26. The company has a market cap of $87.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $218.31 and a 52 week high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. CME Group’s revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.80 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 12.24 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 44.37%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, Director William R. Shepard bought 325 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $230.57 per share, for a total transaction of $74,935.25. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 260,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,050,111.94. This represents a 0.12% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total value of $1,752,536.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,438,860.26. The trade was a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting CME Group

Here are the key news stories impacting CME Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: CME announced new products aimed at expanding trading activity, including Treasury LINK for U.S. Treasury spread trading and a new agriculture index that offers a unified benchmark for the global farm economy. CME Group to launch Treasury LINK for enhanced US Treasury spread trading CME Group’s New Agriculture Index Delivers Unified Price Benchmark for the Global Farm Economy
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley kept an overweight rating but lowered its price target on CME to $324 from $353, while Barclays cut its target to $270 and moved to equal weight, signaling reduced near-term expectations but not a fundamentally bearish view. Morgan Stanley cuts CME price target Barclays cuts CME price target
• Negative Sentiment: The CFTC blocked CME’s plan to fast-track 24/7 crude oil futures trading, a setback that could limit a potentially important new revenue stream and raises regulatory risk around product innovation. CFTC to block CME’s plan for 24/7 crude oil futures trading CFTC Blocks for Now CME’s Plan to Offer 24/7 Oil Futures
• Negative Sentiment: Reports also pointed to weaker trading volumes and rising competition weighing on CME Group, which could pressure transaction-based revenue growth if activity remains soft. Competition And Weaker Trading Volumes Are Weighing On CME Group (CME) Stock

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on CME shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of CME Group from $267.00 to $245.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $293.59.

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.