Groupama Asset Managment Raises Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

Groupama Asset Managment grew its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 236,660 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,847 shares during the quarter. Groupama Asset Managment’s holdings in CME Group were worth $63,943,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 24.0% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,987,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $548,150,000 after buying an additional 385,225 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 70,712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,106,000 after buying an additional 5,773 shares during the last quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 86.0% in the third quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 29,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,896,000 after acquiring an additional 13,512 shares during the period. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 85.2% in the third quarter. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,302,000 after acquiring an additional 3,919 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Financial Group LLC increased its position in CME Group by 310.2% during the second quarter. Victory Financial Group LLC now owns 3,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $839,000 after acquiring an additional 2,302 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director William R. Shepard acquired 251 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $278.37 per share, with a total value of $69,870.87. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 258,710 shares in the company, valued at approximately $72,017,102.70. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.65, for a total transaction of $1,300,530.00. Following the sale, the director owned 43,007 shares in the company, valued at $13,317,117.55. The trade was a 8.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 5,248 shares of company stock worth $1,616,700 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $308.90 on Thursday. 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 50-day simple moving average of $298.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $279.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.39 billion, a PE ratio of 27.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.24. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $248.53 and a 52-week high of $329.16.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on CME. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on CME Group from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $302.00 to $356.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $295.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $304.06.

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.