Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Makes New $58.71 Million Investment in CME Group Inc. $CME

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 217,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $58,710,000. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. owned 0.06% of CME Group at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Caldwell Trust Co raised its stake in CME Group by 116.3% during the 3rd quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 93 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 84.3% in the second quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Sagard Holdings Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard acquired 251 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $278.37 per share, for a total transaction of $69,870.87. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 258,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $72,017,102.70. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Harold Eugene Jr. Ford sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.53, for a total value of $263,530.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $287,511.23. This represents a 47.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $279.91 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $274.27 and a 200-day moving average of $271.85. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $230.19 and a one year high of $290.79. The company has a market cap of $100.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.27.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 58.84% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.68 EPS. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th were paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 12th. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 48.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of CME Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $307.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $310.00 to $318.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Cowen upgraded shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $282.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $291.82.

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.