CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Purchased by Pacer Advisors Inc.

Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 11.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,317 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $8,970,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter worth $1,523,241,000. Sanders Capital LLC purchased a new stake in CME Group during the third quarter valued at about $1,006,932,000. Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in CME Group during the third quarter valued at about $636,487,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in CME Group by 746.4% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,049,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $559,720,000 after acquiring an additional 1,807,491 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth about $217,656,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

More CME Group News

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on CME Group from $266.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of CME Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 13th. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn raised shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $316.00 to $323.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $305.18.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of CME Group 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 sale, the insider owned 27,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,438,860.26. The trade was a 17.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,606,111.30. The trade was a 38.62% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME opened at $246.38 on Monday. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $244.56 and a 1 year high of $329.16. The company has a market cap of $89.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.21. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $279.61 and a 200-day moving average of $287.27.

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

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 dividend yield of 2.1%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.37%.

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.