Forsta AP Fonden Reduces Stake in CME Group Inc. $CME

Forsta AP Fonden lessened its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 72,780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,120 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in CME Group were worth $19,875,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in CME Group by 11.5% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,660,000 after buying an additional 1,037 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of CME Group by 103.1% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,018,000 after acquiring an additional 121,707 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 1,325.2% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 23,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,497,000 after purchasing an additional 21,918 shares in the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the 2nd quarter worth $992,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in CME Group by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 287,876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $79,344,000 after purchasing an additional 7,397 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, 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 value of $1,097,120.67. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 7,192 shares in the company, valued at $2,397,597.04. The trade was a 31.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the 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 approximately $8,438,860.26. The trade was a 17.20% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 44,044 shares of company stock worth $13,297,507 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on CME. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods started coverage on CME Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $305.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $313.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, April 26th. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their price target on shares of CME Group from $340.00 to $316.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $266.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $305.29.

CME Group Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of CME opened at $273.54 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $99.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $257.17 and a 1 year high of $329.16. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $293.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $289.51.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. CME Group’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.80 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.37%.

CME Group News Summary

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

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.