Swedbank AB Has $67.47 Million Stake in CME Group Inc. $CME

Swedbank AB lifted its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 19.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 228,423 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 37,766 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB’s holdings in CME Group were worth $67,465,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Asset Dedication LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 64.9% during the fourth quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership bought a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its holdings in CME Group by 1,250.0% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group reduced their price objective on CME Group from $310.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen upgraded CME Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $343.00 to $316.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of CME Group from $362.00 to $353.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $298.00.

CME Group Trading Up 2.6%

CME opened at $240.75 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $265.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $283.86. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $218.31 and a fifty-two week high of $329.16. The company has a market cap of $87.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.25. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.80 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.27 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director William R. Shepard bought 325 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $230.57 per share, for a total transaction of $74,935.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 260,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,050,111.94. This represents a 0.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total value of $1,752,536.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,438,860.26. This trade represents a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.