CME Group Inc. $CME Stake Increased by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,042,588 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 108,954 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $281,920,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,660,000 after purchasing an additional 1,037 shares during the last quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 30.5% during the second quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,217,000 after purchasing an additional 1,880 shares during the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 3.7% during the second quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 6,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,847,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC acquired a new position in CME Group in the second quarter worth about $165,000. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 25.3% in the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,372 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $378,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $317.10 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $114.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.41, a PEG ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.24. The business has a 50 day moving average of $292.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $277.68. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $248.53 and a 52 week high of $329.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.65% and a net margin of 62.45%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.52 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a $1.30 dividend. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 44.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on CME Group from $319.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Bank of America lifted their target price on CME Group from $201.00 to $209.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on CME Group from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Erste Group Bank upgraded CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $304.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $302.71.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total transaction of $6,738,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 65,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,737,468.20. This represents a 27.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.65, for a total transaction of $1,300,530.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 43,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,317,117.55. This trade represents a 8.90% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 30,248 shares of company stock valued at $8,355,450 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.