Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Boosts Stock Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 6.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 32,395 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,105 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $8,846,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,307,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,539,618,000 after acquiring an additional 130,698 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of CME Group by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,812,914 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,300,450,000 after acquiring an additional 130,848 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 238,522 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC acquired a new position in CME Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,006,932,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in CME Group by 0.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,381,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $913,548,000 after purchasing an additional 20,213 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $13,317,117.55. The trade was a 8.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.90, for a total transaction of $91,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 24,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,647,194.10. The trade was a 1.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 8,539 shares of company stock worth $2,713,821 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $293.78 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $248.53 and a twelve month high of $329.16. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $302.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $281.88. 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 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 analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 62.45% and a return on equity of 14.65%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.52 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on CME shares. Erste Group Bank raised shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Raymond James Financial lowered their target price on shares of CME Group from $311.00 to $310.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $201.00 to $209.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $262.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $295.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Two 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $304.06.

CME Group 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.