Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Has $75.24 Million Stock Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 57.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 254,747 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 93,270 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund owned about 0.07% of CME Group worth $75,240,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 64.9% in the fourth quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 191.9% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on CME. Weiss Ratings lowered CME Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on CME Group from $323.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Erste Group Bank cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on CME Group from $267.00 to $245.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $320.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $300.94.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $236.60 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $268.16 and its 200-day moving average is $284.62. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $218.31 and a 52 week high of $329.16. The firm has a market cap of $85.73 billion, a PE ratio of 20.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.80 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director William R. Shepard acquired 325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $230.57 per share, for a total transaction of $74,935.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 260,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,050,111.94. This trade represents a 0.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total value of $10,447,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly 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. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by 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.