Prudential PLC Acquires 31,616 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Prudential PLC boosted its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 67.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 78,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,616 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $21,123,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CME. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,307,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,539,618,000 after buying an additional 130,698 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in CME Group during the second quarter valued at $1,571,447,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in CME Group by 2.0% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,682,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,289,910,000 after buying an additional 92,925 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in CME Group by 6.6% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,833,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,056,476,000 after acquiring an additional 238,522 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC bought a new stake in CME Group in the third quarter worth $1,006,932,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CME. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $333.00 to $347.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on CME Group from $305.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $303.53.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $311.40 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $112.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.24. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $248.53 and a 1-year high of $329.16. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $295.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $278.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $224,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,699 shares in the company, valued at approximately $809,700. This trade represents a 21.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.90, for a total value of $91,770.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 24,999 shares in the company, valued at $7,647,194.10. This trade represents a 1.19% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 5,248 shares of company stock valued at $1,616,700 in the last ninety days. 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: 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 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.