MUFG Securities EMEA plc Has $4.04 Million Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

MUFG Securities EMEA plc increased its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 114.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,779 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,881 shares during the quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc’s holdings in CME Group were worth $4,036,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. West Family Investments Inc. grew its stake in CME Group by 1.2% in the third quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 3,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $827,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 64.9% in the fourth quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 11,523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,147,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group grew its stake in CME Group by 4.3% in the third quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $243,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Atlatl Advisers LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 1.8% in the third quarter. Atlatl Advisers LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $574,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $257.76 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $292.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $289.45. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $257.17 and a 1 year high of $329.16. The company has a market capitalization of $93.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.23.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.25. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The business had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.80 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total value of $10,447,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,606,111.30. This trade represents a 38.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total value of $1,097,120.67. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 7,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,397,597.04. This represents a 31.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 44,044 shares of company stock valued at $13,297,507 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on CME. Rothschild & Co Redburn reduced their price objective on CME Group from $340.00 to $316.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on CME Group from $266.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. TD Cowen cut their target price on CME Group from $340.00 to $323.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $295.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $313.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $305.29.

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.