CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Acquired by Bearing Point Capital LLC

Bearing Point Capital LLC increased its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 12.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 34,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,898 shares during the quarter. CME Group accounts for 1.5% of Bearing Point Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Bearing Point Capital LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $9,525,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Patrick Mauro Investment Advisor INC. grew its stake in CME Group by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Patrick Mauro Investment Advisor INC. now owns 49,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,518,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter worth about $1,523,241,000. Eurizon SLJ Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $10,828,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $15,732,000. Finally, Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,718,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: CME announced that Chairman and CEO Terry Duffy will present at the Piper Sandler Global Exchange and Fintech Conference on June 4, which keeps the company visible to investors and may reinforce its growth story. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage says CME’s planned 24/7 Bitcoin and Ethereum futures trading could attract more institutional crypto volume, which may support future derivatives activity and trading revenue. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: CME also lowered margin requirements on gold and silver futures, a move that may help keep trading active during volatile commodity markets but is not clearly a major fundamental catalyst. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro commentary from the CME floor highlighted sticky inflation and stronger durable goods data, which could keep Fed policy uncertain and sustain trading activity, but the direct impact on CME stock is unclear. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Crypto articles suggesting Bitcoin’s “CME gap” may disappear with round-the-clock trading could reduce the market’s focus on CME-specific weekend price gaps, weakening one of the more visible trading narratives tied to the company’s crypto franchise. Article Title

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of CME Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of CME Group from $340.00 to $323.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods assumed coverage on shares of CME Group in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $305.00 price target for the company. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of CME Group from $343.00 to $316.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $305.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total transaction of $1,752,536.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,438,860.26. The trade was a 17.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total transaction of $1,097,120.67. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 7,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,397,597.04. The trade was a 31.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 44,044 shares of company stock valued at $13,297,507 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Down 1.4%

CME Group stock opened at $273.54 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $293.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $289.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.34, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.23. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $257.17 and a 52-week high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. CME Group’s revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.80 EPS. Sell-side 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 paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 44.37%.

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.