CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Acquired by UniSuper Management Pty Ltd

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 19.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,830 shares during the quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in CME Group were worth $7,870,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Caldwell Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 116.3% in the 3rd quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 93 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in CME Group by 84.3% during the 2nd quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA purchased a new position in CME Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new position in CME Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Sagard Holdings Management Inc. purchased a new stake in CME Group during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME Group stock opened at $282.73 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $232.32 and a 12-month 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. The company has a market capitalization of $101.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.27. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $274.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $271.95.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 58.84%.The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.68 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th were issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 12th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 48.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $280.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Bank of America increased their price target on CME Group from $201.00 to $209.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on CME Group from $256.00 to $262.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on CME Group from $265.00 to $264.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on CME Group from $304.00 to $302.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 12th. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $292.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 65,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,737,468.20. This represents a 27.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director William R. Shepard purchased 251 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $278.37 per share, with a total value of $69,870.87. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 258,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $72,017,102.70. This represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company 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.