Virtu Financial LLC Decreases Stock Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Virtu Financial LLC lowered its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 36.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,069 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,968 shares during the quarter. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,384,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,895,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,802,366,000 after purchasing an additional 588,509 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,144,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,408,747,000 after buying an additional 56,725 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth about $1,523,241,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in CME Group by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,924,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,344,776,000 after buying an additional 134,242 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in CME Group by 2.8% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,812,914 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,300,450,000 after buying an additional 130,848 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting CME Group

Here are the key news stories impacting CME Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: CME continues to be highlighted as a dividend and value stock, with analysts noting its strong capital returns, electronic trading growth, and global product expansion could support a long-term rebound. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: One market note said CME may be undervalued after the CEO succession announcement, suggesting the stock could have upside if investors view the leadership transition as orderly. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: CME named longtime finance chief Julie Winkler as its next CEO, while Terry Duffy will step into an executive chairman role; the move appears planned and may reduce uncertainty, but it also marks a major leadership change. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: The company is also taking legal action against the CFTC over approval of perpetual crypto futures, arguing the products should be treated as swaps rather than futures. The case could affect CME’s role in crypto derivatives, but the financial impact is still uncertain. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Goldman Sachs kept a Sell rating on CME and trimmed its price target, citing leadership transition risk and regulatory uncertainty, which may be weighing on sentiment. Article Title

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on CME. Erste Group Bank downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Weiss Ratings downgraded CME Group from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on CME Group from $362.00 to $353.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. UBS Group reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of CME Group in a report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced 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. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $305.18.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME opened at $246.38 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $244.56 and a twelve month high of $329.16. The company has a market cap of $89.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 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. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $279.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $287.21.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.80 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 44.37%.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $16,606,111.30. This trade represents a 38.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total value of $1,752,536.39. Following the transaction, the insider owned 27,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,438,860.26. This trade represents a 17.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.