CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Purchased by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 83,065 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,381 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $22,684,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CME. West Family Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of CME Group by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 3,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $827,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group raised its position in shares of CME Group by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $243,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 64.9% during the 4th quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 11,523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,147,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1248 Management LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 26.8% during the 3rd quarter. 1248 Management LLC now owns 180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of CME stock opened at $257.40 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $288.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $288.60. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $244.56 and a twelve month high of $329.16. The company has a market capitalization of $93.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced 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. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The company had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.80 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 44.37%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total value of $1,752,536.39. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares in the company, valued at $8,438,860.26. The trade was a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total value of $10,447,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 55,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,606,111.30. This trade represents a 38.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 44,044 shares of company stock worth $13,297,507 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CME. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods began coverage on CME Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $305.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of CME Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut their target price on CME Group from $340.00 to $316.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on CME Group from $340.00 to $323.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $305.29.

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.