Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Has $21.79 Million Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund lessened its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 21.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 82,145 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 23,000 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in CME Group were worth $21,792,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of CME Group by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,643,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,190,661,000 after buying an additional 400,737 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 89.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,280,785 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,923,047,000 after purchasing an additional 3,921,278 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,943,454 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $915,788,000 after purchasing an additional 403,920 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 24.7% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,135,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $728,260,000 after purchasing an additional 621,713 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 29.9% during the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,818,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $747,744,000 after purchasing an additional 648,591 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $273.92 on Thursday. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $204.16 and a 1 year high of $290.79. The company has a market cap of $98.72 billion, a PE ratio of 26.52, a P/E/G ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $275.53 and its 200 day moving average is $266.60.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 58.48%. The business’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.56 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 9th. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 48.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Daniel G. Kaye sold 500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.42, for a total transaction of $141,210.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,035,916.56. The trade was a 12.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Charles P. Carey sold 500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.35, for a total value of $132,675.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 4,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,300,215. The trade was a 9.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,450 shares of company stock worth $676,663. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on CME shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $261.93.

CME Group Company Profile

CME Group Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates contract markets for the trading of futures and options on futures contracts worldwide. It offers futures and options products based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, agricultural commodities, energy, and metals, as well as fixed income and foreign currency trading services.