Capital Wealth Planning LLC Buys 313,866 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Capital Wealth Planning LLC raised its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 14.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,532,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 313,866 shares during the period. CME Group comprises about 4.8% of Capital Wealth Planning LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Capital Wealth Planning LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $684,258,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the second quarter worth approximately $1,571,447,000. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new position in CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $636,487,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in CME Group by 107.2% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Viking Global Investors LP acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $164,648,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,176,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,695,313,000 after purchasing an additional 532,549 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.65, for a total value of $1,300,530.00. Following the sale, the director owned 43,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,317,117.55. The trade was a 8.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the director directly owned 2,699 shares in the company, 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 three months, insiders have sold 5,248 shares of company stock worth $1,616,700. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Rothschild & Co Redburn raised its price target on CME to $347 (maintaining a “neutral” rating), implying roughly double-digit upside from recent levels and offering fresh analyst support for the shares. Rothschild Co Redburn adjusts price target on CME to 347 from 333, maintains neutral rating
• Neutral Sentiment: CME’s CEO Terry Duffy publicly warned that U.S. government intervention in oil futures markets would be highly damaging; exchanges including CME have voiced opposition to potential Treasury action. This raises policy/regulatory risk for energy derivatives but also underscores the exchange’s central role in market integrity — a factor that can support trading volumes in energy products if volatility rises. US intervention in oil futures would be ‘biblical disaster’, CME warns CME Group CEO warns against US intervention in oil futures markets US intervention in oil futures market could be disastrous: CME Group
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest reporting in recent feeds shows zero or nonsensical values and appears to be a data anomaly rather than a real bearish signal; treat those short-interest items with caution. (Market impact minimal until corrected.)
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Ken Vroman (Chief Transformation Officer) sold about 5,160 shares (~$1.59M) and SEC filings show multiple recent insider sales across senior staff. While insider sales can be routine, the cadence and size may raise governance/owner-sentiment questions for some investors. CME Group’s Vroman sells $1.59 million in stock Insider Sale: Chief Transformation Officer of $CME Sells 5,160 Shares

CME Group Stock Up 0.1%

CME Group stock opened at $311.40 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $248.53 and a 1-year high of $329.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $112.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $295.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $278.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $201.00 to $209.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $262.00 to $266.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on CME Group from $302.00 to $356.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Erste Group Bank raised CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Raymond James Financial dropped their price objective on CME Group from $311.00 to $310.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $303.53.

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.