E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB Purchases New Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB purchased a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 12,772 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,488,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avanza Fonder AB boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Avanza Fonder AB now owns 32,770 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,949,000 after purchasing an additional 3,526 shares during the period. Sunflower Bank N.A. purchased a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at $232,000. Clear Trail Advisors LLC bought a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $10,014,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 345.2% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 237,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $64,965,000 after buying an additional 184,459 shares during the period. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp boosted its stake in CME Group by 97.0% during the fourth quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 1,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $371,000 after buying an additional 668 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of CME Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $266.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $305.00 to $328.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $304.06.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were 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 owned 7,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,397,597.04. This represents a 31.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.90, for a total transaction of $91,770.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 24,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,647,194.10. This represents a 1.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 8,539 shares of company stock worth $2,713,821 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $306.56 on Tuesday. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $248.53 and a twelve month high of $329.16. The firm has a market cap of $109.94 billion, a PE ratio of 27.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.24. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $300.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $280.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.65% and a net margin of 62.45%.The business’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.52 EPS. Analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

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.