CME Group Inc. $CME Stake Lifted by Korea Investment CORP

Korea Investment CORP raised its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 236,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,120 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP owned approximately 0.07% of CME Group worth $64,002,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 1,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $392,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. West Family Investments Inc. boosted its stake in CME Group by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 3,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $827,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Atlatl Advisers LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Atlatl Advisers LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $574,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Verus Capital Partners LLC grew its position in CME Group by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,898,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Finemark National Bank & Trust grew its position in CME Group by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Finemark National Bank & Trust now owns 4,645 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,255,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $224,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,699 shares in the company, valued at $809,700. This trade represents a 21.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director William R. Shepard bought 251 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $278.37 per share, for a total transaction of $69,870.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 258,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $72,017,102.70. This represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 30,248 shares of company stock worth $8,355,450 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $317.10 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $114.35 billion, a PE ratio of 28.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $292.18 and a 200-day moving average of $277.68. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $248.53 and a one year high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.65% and a net margin of 62.45%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.52 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. 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 1.6%. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.80%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on CME Group from $302.00 to $356.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on CME Group from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on CME Group from $262.00 to $266.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on CME Group from $305.00 to $328.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price target on CME Group from $300.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $302.71.

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.