CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Acquired by MML Investors Services LLC

MML Investors Services LLC increased its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 48.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 159,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 52,340 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $43,645,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CME. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in CME Group by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,895,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,802,366,000 after buying an additional 588,509 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in CME Group by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,144,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,408,747,000 after buying an additional 56,725 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,523,241,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in CME Group by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,924,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,344,776,000 after buying an additional 134,242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in CME Group by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,812,914 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,300,450,000 after buying an additional 130,848 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $266.08 on Tuesday. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $244.56 and a fifty-two week high of $329.16. The firm has a market cap of $96.42 billion, a PE ratio of 22.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.21. The business’s fifty day moving average is $284.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $288.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The company had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.80 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CME has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Erste Group Bank lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Barclays reduced their target price on CME Group from $343.00 to $316.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on CME Group from $266.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on CME Group from $362.00 to $353.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $305.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, 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 transaction of $10,447,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 55,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,606,111.30. This represents a 38.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total value of $1,752,536.39. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,438,860.26. This represents a 17.20% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate 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.