Capital International Investors Purchases 87,411 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,197,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 87,411 shares during the period. Capital International Investors owned 1.16% of CME Group worth $1,146,593,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. West Family Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 1.2% during the third quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 3,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $827,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 64.9% during the fourth quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 11,523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,147,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 4.3% during the third quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1248 Management LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 26.8% during the third quarter. 1248 Management LLC now owns 180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ CME opened at $257.40 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $244.56 and a 52-week high of $329.16. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $288.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $288.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $93.27 billion, a PE ratio of 21.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.21.

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

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on CME shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of CME Group from $342.00 to $322.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of CME Group from $275.00 to $267.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of CME Group from $340.00 to $323.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, April 26th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $305.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, 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 owned 27,702 shares in the company, valued at $8,438,860.26. This trade represents a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total transaction of $10,447,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 55,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,606,111.30. This represents a 38.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 44,044 shares of company stock worth $13,297,507 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.