Smartleaf Asset Management LLC Has $1.79 Million Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 40.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,909 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,789,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,571,447,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 107.2% during the third quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,502,752 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $406,029,000 after purchasing an additional 777,571 shares during the period. Viking Global Investors LP acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $164,648,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of CME Group by 1.5% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,176,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,695,313,000 after buying an additional 532,549 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Magellan Asset Management Ltd boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 131,625.5% in the second quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 486,067 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $133,970,000 after buying an additional 485,698 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting CME Group

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 earnings beat and commentary reinforced the firm’s resilient fee-based franchise — investors reacted to better-than-expected quarterly results and the company hitting a new one-year high after the report. Earnings Call Transcript
• Positive Sentiment: Deutsche Bank raised its price target to $316 and maintained a buy rating, giving fresh analyst support that can help momentum. Deutsche Bank PT Raise
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley reiterated a Buy rating, highlighting CME’s defensive, fee-based franchise and structural growth drivers. Morgan Stanley Note
• Neutral Sentiment: RBC nudged its target to $302 (sector perform) — a small technical change that largely preserves prior sentiment. RBC PT Adjustment
• Positive Sentiment: Management confirmed the firm is exploring a CME-issued digital token and tokenized cash pilots (including work with Google), a strategic move that could expand 24/7 crypto/product offerings and new non-trading revenue streams. CME Token Exploration
• Negative Sentiment: CME raised initial and maintenance margins for gold and silver futures (e.g., gold margins to 9% from 8%, silver to 18% from 15%) to manage sharp volatility — measures that can damp trading volume and futures activity in the near term. Margin Hikes
• Negative Sentiment: Pelican Bay Capital reported selling CME in Q4, signaling at least some institutional trimming that could weigh on sentiment if others follow. Institutional Selling
• Negative Sentiment: JPMorgan still carries an underweight rating despite updating its target — a reminder there are pockets of skepticism about valuation and upside. JPMorgan Note

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 65,804 shares in the company, valued at $17,737,468.20. This trade represents a 27.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director William R. Shepard bought 251 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $278.37 per share, for a total transaction of $69,870.87. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 258,710 shares in the company, valued at approximately $72,017,102.70. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on CME shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on CME Group from $262.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on CME Group from $295.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. TD Cowen boosted their price target on CME Group from $305.00 to $328.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $304.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $319.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.47.

CME Group Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $302.27 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $109.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.09, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $239.70 and a 12 month high of $302.79. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $276.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $273.00.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.