Sarasin & Partners LLP Has $306.34 Million Stake in CME Group Inc. $CME

Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,125,245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 110,373 shares during the period. CME Group accounts for approximately 3.0% of Sarasin & Partners LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Sarasin & Partners LLP’s holdings in CME Group were worth $306,337,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Webster Bank N. A. increased its stake in CME Group by 206.9% during the second quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 89 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 84.3% during the second quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. bought a new stake in CME Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 59.2% in the second quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of CME Group from $285.00 to $280.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on CME Group from $264.00 to $263.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $296.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Citigroup upgraded shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $275.00 to $300.00 in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $201.00 to $209.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $290.47.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director William R. Shepard bought 262 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $265.19 per share, with a total value of $69,479.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 258,459 shares in the company, valued at $68,540,742.21. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Harold Eugene Jr. Ford sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.53, for a total value of $263,530.00. Following the sale, the director owned 1,091 shares in the company, valued at $287,511.23. The trade was a 47.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME opened at $269.09 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $224.62 and a twelve month high of $290.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.07, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a 50 day moving average of $272.32 and a 200-day moving average of $271.77.

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

CME Group Announces Dividend

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

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.