Cantillon Capital Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

Cantillon Capital Management LLC lifted its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,573,017 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,844 shares during the quarter. CME Group comprises approximately 2.3% of Cantillon Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Cantillon Capital Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $429,559,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth about $1,523,241,000. Sanders Capital LLC purchased a new stake in CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,006,932,000. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $636,487,000. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $217,656,000. Finally, Viking Global Investors LP purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $164,648,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays decreased their price target on CME Group from $343.00 to $316.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods started coverage on CME Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $305.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on CME Group from $266.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of CME Group from $275.00 to $267.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $305.29.

CME Group Price Performance

CME stock opened at $257.40 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $288.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $288.67. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $244.56 and a twelve month high of $329.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.27 billion, a PE ratio of 21.96, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current fiscal 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 $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.37%.

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 on 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 completion of the transaction, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $8,438,860.26. The trade was a 17.20% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 44,044 shares of company stock valued at $13,297,507 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.