Osaic Holdings Inc. Buys 23,523 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 78.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,523 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $14,683,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,571,447,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 185.5% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,244,608 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $330,182,000 after acquiring an additional 808,740 shares in the last quarter. Viking Global Investors LP bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the second quarter worth $164,648,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of CME Group by 1.5% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,176,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,695,313,000 after purchasing an additional 532,549 shares in the last quarter. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 1,927.1% during the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 521,218 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $138,274,000 after purchasing an additional 495,505 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Price Performance

CME stock opened at $266.03 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $272.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $271.99. The stock has a market cap of $95.93 billion, a PE ratio of 25.78, a P/E/G ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 0.28. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $224.62 and a one year high of $290.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.05. CME Group had a net margin of 58.84% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.68 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 48.45%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total value of $6,738,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 65,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,737,468.20. This represents a 27.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director William R. Shepard purchased 262 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $265.19 per share, for a total transaction of $69,479.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 258,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,540,742.21. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on CME shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on CME Group from $252.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CME Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of CME Group from $285.00 to $280.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Argus cut their price target on shares of CME Group from $308.00 to $295.00 in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $312.00 to $314.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $290.47.

About CME Group

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.