Keystone Financial Planning Inc. Takes Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Keystone Financial Planning Inc. acquired a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 32,041 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,750,000. CME Group accounts for 2.5% of Keystone Financial Planning Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in CME Group in the second quarter worth approximately $1,571,447,000. Sanders Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth $1,006,932,000. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $636,487,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 107.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,502,752 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $406,029,000 after purchasing an additional 777,571 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Viking Global Investors LP purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 2nd quarter worth $164,648,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on CME. Barclays lifted their target price on CME Group from $304.00 to $312.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Raymond James Financial reduced their price target on CME Group from $311.00 to $310.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on CME Group from $266.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on CME Group from $201.00 to $209.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $319.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $304.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $224,400.00. Following the sale, the director owned 2,699 shares in the company, valued at $809,700. This trade represents a 21.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director William R. Shepard bought 251 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $278.37 per share, for a total transaction of $69,870.87. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 258,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $72,017,102.70. This represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 8,539 shares of company stock worth $2,713,821 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CME Group Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $307.32 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $248.53 and a fifty-two week high of $329.16. 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 company has a market capitalization of $110.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a fifty day moving average of $300.08 and a 200 day moving average of $280.42.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.65% and a net margin of 62.45%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.52 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 46.59%.

Key Headlines Impacting CME Group

Here are the key news stories impacting CME Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: CME raised its quarterly dividend to $1.30 (annualized $5.20), a payout increase that supports yield-focused holders and signals confidence in cash generation. See company summary. MarketBeat: CME summary
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst actions are mixed — several firms have raised price targets and ratings (Jefferies, Weiss, Erste), while others remain cautious or underweight (JPMorgan, Goldman). The consensus view is close to a “Hold” with a median target near the current price, producing offsetting pressure on the stock. See analyst roundup. MarketBeat: analyst notes
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest notices published this week show zero shares/days-to-cover, which appears to be a data error (NaN/inconsistent reporting) and should not be treated as a meaningful change in market sentiment. No reliable short-squeeze signal. (No credible link — data feed report)
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional ownership remains high and activity is mixed: large buy and sell moves by different funds have been reported in recent filings, so institutional flow is not clearly one-directional. MarketBeat: institutional activity
• Negative Sentiment: Senior management insider selling: General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares (around $1.1M) on March 17, reducing his holding by ~31%. Multiple recent insider sales by executives have been highlighted by data aggregators, which can weigh on sentiment even if sales are routine or for diversification. InsiderTrades: Marcus sale

About CME Group

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.