TrueMark Investments LLC Raises Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

TrueMark Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 7.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 31,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,226 shares during the period. CME Group comprises 1.6% of TrueMark Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. TrueMark Investments LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $8,506,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 0.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,307,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,539,618,000 after purchasing an additional 130,698 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in CME Group by 2.8% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,812,914 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,300,450,000 after buying an additional 130,848 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,833,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,056,476,000 after acquiring an additional 238,522 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC purchased a new position in CME Group in the third quarter valued at about $1,006,932,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of CME Group by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,381,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $913,548,000 after buying an additional 20,213 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on CME Group from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on CME Group from $319.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. TD Cowen upped their target price on CME Group from $305.00 to $328.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Erste Group Bank upgraded CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on CME Group from $262.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $304.06.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ CME opened at $293.78 on Monday. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $248.53 and a 12-month high of $329.16. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $302.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $281.88. 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 market cap of $105.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.24.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.52 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was 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 presently 46.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.65, for a total value of $1,300,530.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 43,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,317,117.55. This represents a 8.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.90, for a total value of $91,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 24,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,647,194.10. The trade was a 1.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,539 shares of company stock worth $2,713,821. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.