Saudi Central Bank Acquires 12,086 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Saudi Central Bank lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 90.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,086 shares during the quarter. Saudi Central Bank’s holdings in CME Group were worth $5,608,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in CME Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $6,749,965,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter worth $1,523,241,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the 2nd quarter worth $867,313,000. Alphabet Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $769,376,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $629,771,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME opened at $281.29 on Monday. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $218.31 and a fifty-two week high of $329.16. The firm has a market cap of $101.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.86, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $258.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $278.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 63.30% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.96 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 12.27 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Barclays lowered their price target on CME Group from $316.00 to $270.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on CME Group from $329.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Bank of America upped their price objective on CME Group from $226.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on CME Group from $324.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $289.75.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, Director William Shepard acquired 325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $230.57 per share, for a total transaction of $74,935.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 260,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,050,111.94. This represents a 0.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CME Group 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.