Norges Bank Invests $1.52 Billion in CME Group Inc. $CME

Norges Bank acquired a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 5,578,002 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,523,241,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 70,712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,106,000 after acquiring an additional 5,773 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 78.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 13,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,588,000 after acquiring an additional 5,855 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 345.2% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 237,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $64,965,000 after acquiring an additional 184,459 shares during the last quarter. Dover Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 95.5% in the 3rd quarter. Dover Advisors LLC now owns 5,597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,512,000 after acquiring an additional 2,734 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keybank National Association OH lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 153,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,508,000 after acquiring an additional 20,477 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the company’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 in the company, valued at approximately $16,606,111.30. This represents a 38.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total value of $1,097,120.67. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 7,192 shares in the company, valued at $2,397,597.04. This trade represents a 31.39% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 44,044 shares of company stock worth $13,297,507. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting CME Group

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

• Positive Sentiment: CME announced that Chairman and CEO Terry Duffy will present at the Piper Sandler Global Exchange and Fintech Conference on June 4, which keeps the company visible to investors and may reinforce its growth story. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage says CME’s planned 24/7 Bitcoin and Ethereum futures trading could attract more institutional crypto volume, which may support future derivatives activity and trading revenue. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: CME also lowered margin requirements on gold and silver futures, a move that may help keep trading active during volatile commodity markets but is not clearly a major fundamental catalyst. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro commentary from the CME floor highlighted sticky inflation and stronger durable goods data, which could keep Fed policy uncertain and sustain trading activity, but the direct impact on CME stock is unclear. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Crypto articles suggesting Bitcoin’s “CME gap” may disappear with round-the-clock trading could reduce the market’s focus on CME-specific weekend price gaps, weakening one of the more visible trading narratives tied to the company’s crypto franchise. Article Title

CME Group Trading Down 1.4%

CME opened at $273.54 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $293.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $289.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.34, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.23. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $257.17 and a one year high of $329.16.

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

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 44.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CME shares. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on CME Group from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $310.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research note on Friday, February 6th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on CME Group from $340.00 to $323.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on CME Group from $362.00 to $353.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on CME Group from $295.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $305.29.

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.