Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Buys 8,902 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,159,966 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,902 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in CME Group were worth $342,613,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 11.5% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,660,000 after acquiring an additional 1,037 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in CME Group by 103.1% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,018,000 after purchasing an additional 121,707 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in CME Group by 1,325.2% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 23,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,497,000 after purchasing an additional 21,918 shares in the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC bought a new position in CME Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $992,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in CME Group by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 287,876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $79,344,000 after purchasing an additional 7,397 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ CME opened at $237.41 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $256.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $281.68. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $218.31 and a 1 year high of $329.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.25.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.18 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the topic of a number of research reports. Erste Group Bank lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on CME Group from $356.00 to $349.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $316.00 to $323.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on CME Group from $266.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of CME Group from $342.00 to $322.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $292.12.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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. The trade was a 38.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 27,702 shares in the company, valued at $8,438,860.26. This represents a 17.20% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.