Fulton Bank N.A. Acquires 2,756 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Fulton Bank N.A. raised its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 43.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,143 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,756 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $2,700,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 11.5% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,660,000 after acquiring an additional 1,037 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 103.1% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,018,000 after acquiring an additional 121,707 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1,325.2% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 23,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,497,000 after acquiring an additional 21,918 shares in the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the second quarter valued at $992,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of CME Group by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 287,876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $79,344,000 after purchasing an additional 7,397 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, Director William R. Shepard acquired 325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $230.57 per share, for a total transaction of $74,935.25. Following the transaction, the director directly 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 purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,606,111.30. This 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 corporate insiders.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME opened at $231.00 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $269.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $284.88. The firm has a market cap of $83.71 billion, a PE ratio of 19.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $218.31 and a 1-year high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released 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 return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.80 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 44.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $266.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of CME Group from $356.00 to $349.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $316.00 to $323.00 in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $300.94.

CME Group News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded CME Group (CME) to Outperform from Market Perform and kept a $305 price target, citing an attractive risk/reward setup after recent stock weakness. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Insider buying may also support sentiment: Director William Shepard bought 325 shares at about $230.57 per share, signaling confidence from management. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts still expect modest earnings growth ahead of CME’s next report, and one note lifted FY2027 EPS estimates slightly, reinforcing the view that fundamentals remain solid. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: CME is expected to report second-quarter results soon, with Wall Street looking for low-single-digit profit growth; investors may be waiting for the print before making bigger moves. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Goldman Sachs cut its price target on CME Group (CME) to $245 from $267 and maintained a Sell rating, which likely weighed on the stock. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: DraftKings’ move to bring its prediction-markets infrastructure in-house may reduce reliance on third-party platforms such as CME over time, creating a potential competitive headwind. Article Title

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.