Wilson Asset Management International PTY Ltd. Cuts Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

Wilson Asset Management International PTY Ltd. lowered its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,026 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,090 shares during the period. CME Group makes up approximately 3.0% of Wilson Asset Management International PTY Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Wilson Asset Management International PTY Ltd.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $12,166,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Amundi grew its holdings in CME Group by 24.0% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 1,987,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $548,150,000 after purchasing an additional 385,225 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 70,712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,106,000 after acquiring an additional 5,773 shares during the period. Alley Investment Management Company LLC increased its holdings in CME Group by 86.0% in the 3rd quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 29,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,896,000 after acquiring an additional 13,512 shares in the last quarter. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in CME Group by 85.2% during the 3rd quarter. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,302,000 after acquiring an additional 3,919 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Financial Group LLC raised its stake in CME Group by 310.2% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Financial Group LLC now owns 3,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $839,000 after acquiring an additional 2,302 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CME. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $262.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $310.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on CME Group from $295.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Bank of America boosted their price objective on CME Group from $201.00 to $209.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their target price on CME Group from $297.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.47.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total value of $6,738,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 65,804 shares in the company, valued at $17,737,468.20. The trade was a 27.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director William R. Shepard purchased 251 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $278.37 per share, with a total value of $69,870.87. Following the acquisition, the director owned 258,710 shares in the company, valued at $72,017,102.70. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Key CME Group News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 earnings beat and commentary reinforced the firm’s resilient fee-based franchise — investors reacted to better-than-expected quarterly results and the company hitting a new one-year high after the report. Earnings Call Transcript
• Positive Sentiment: Deutsche Bank raised its price target to $316 and maintained a buy rating, giving fresh analyst support that can help momentum. Deutsche Bank PT Raise
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley reiterated a Buy rating, highlighting CME’s defensive, fee-based franchise and structural growth drivers. Morgan Stanley Note
• Neutral Sentiment: RBC nudged its target to $302 (sector perform) — a small technical change that largely preserves prior sentiment. RBC PT Adjustment
• Positive Sentiment: Management confirmed the firm is exploring a CME-issued digital token and tokenized cash pilots (including work with Google), a strategic move that could expand 24/7 crypto/product offerings and new non-trading revenue streams. CME Token Exploration
• Negative Sentiment: CME raised initial and maintenance margins for gold and silver futures (e.g., gold margins to 9% from 8%, silver to 18% from 15%) to manage sharp volatility — measures that can damp trading volume and futures activity in the near term. Margin Hikes
• Negative Sentiment: Pelican Bay Capital reported selling CME in Q4, signaling at least some institutional trimming that could weigh on sentiment if others follow. Institutional Selling
• Negative Sentiment: JPMorgan still carries an underweight rating despite updating its target — a reminder there are pockets of skepticism about valuation and upside. JPMorgan Note

CME Group Stock Up 1.6%

CME opened at $302.27 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $109.00 billion, a PE ratio of 27.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.27. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $276.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $273.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $239.70 and a 52 week high of $302.79.

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

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.