CME Group Inc. $CME Stock Position Increased by Conning Inc.

Conning Inc. increased its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 126,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,463 shares during the quarter. CME Group comprises approximately 1.1% of Conning Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest position. Conning Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $34,181,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $9,695,313,000 after acquiring an additional 532,549 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,178,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,524,271,000 after purchasing an additional 319,899 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,571,447,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted 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 purchasing an additional 92,925 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in CME Group by 6.6% during 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 buying an additional 238,522 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME opened at $275.23 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $99.25 billion, a PE ratio of 26.67, a PEG ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $274.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $271.81. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $225.46 and a 52 week high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.05. CME Group had a net margin of 58.84% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.68 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th were paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 12th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 48.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total value of $6,738,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 65,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,737,468.20. This represents a 27.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Harold Eugene Jr. Ford sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.53, for a total transaction of $263,530.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $287,511.23. The trade was a 47.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on CME. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on CME Group from $307.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on CME Group from $314.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of CME Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Cowen upgraded CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $275.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $291.94.

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.