Krilogy Financial LLC Takes $995,000 Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Krilogy Financial LLC acquired a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,711 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $995,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 1.5% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,176,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,695,313,000 after acquiring an additional 532,549 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,178,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,524,271,000 after acquiring an additional 319,899 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,571,447,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in CME Group by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,682,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,289,910,000 after purchasing an additional 92,925 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in CME Group by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,833,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,056,476,000 after purchasing an additional 238,522 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on CME shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on CME Group from $319.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $295.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of CME Group from $304.00 to $302.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 12th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on CME Group from $264.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $297.59.

CME Group News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Company raised cash returns — declared a Q1 regular dividend of $1.30 per share (4% increase) and an annual variable dividend of $6.15 per share (~$2.2B), both payable March 26 to holders of record March 10; this boosts income yield and signals strong 2025 free cash flow. Dividend Release
• Positive Sentiment: New product pipeline: CME is exploring a first-ever rare-earths futures contract and has been reported to be planning launches that could create transparent price benchmarks for strategically important commodities — potential long-term revenue driver. Rare-Earths/Expansion Reporting
• Positive Sentiment: Asia expansion: Reuters reports CME plans to list Taiwan and Hong Kong warehouses as part of an Asia aluminium push — this regional expansion could deepen physical-derivatives liquidity and fee pools. Asia Warehouses Story
• Positive Sentiment: Product traction in digital assets: CME announced first trades in new Cardano, Chainlink and Stellar futures — incremental product diversification and fee generation from crypto derivatives. Crypto Futures Release
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional demand: Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund disclosed a material addition to its CME position (~38,147 shares), a sign of institutional buying interest. QuiverQuant Fund Update
• Positive Sentiment: Volume catalysts: Wedbush highlighted surging volumes in CME’s prediction markets around Super Bowl LX, underscoring episodic volume drivers for clearing revenues. Wedbush Note
• Neutral Sentiment: Board slate: CME filed its slate of director nominees for the May annual meeting — routine governance update with limited near-term price impact. Director Nominees Release
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data appears anomalous (reports showing 0 shares and NaN changes) — no clear evidence of elevated short activity from the available reports. Short Interest Reports
• Negative Sentiment: Sell-side signal: Goldman Sachs raised its price target but to $266 — notably below current levels — which could be interpreted as a conservative view on near-term upside and may weigh on sentiment. Goldman Sachs Note

CME Group Stock Down 0.3%

CME stock opened at $301.64 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.77 billion, a PE ratio of 27.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.27. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $244.43 and a 52 week high of $309.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $279.18 and a 200 day moving average of $273.80.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 62.45% and a return on equity of 14.65%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 44.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total transaction of $6,738,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 65,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,737,468.20. The trade was a 27.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director William R. Shepard acquired 251 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $278.37 per share, for a total transaction of $69,870.87. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 258,710 shares in the company, valued at approximately $72,017,102.70. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 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.