Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Trims Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich decreased its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 801,283 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,471 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in CME Group were worth $218,866,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CME. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 64.9% during the fourth quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA purchased a new position in CME Group during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID raised its stake in CME Group by 191.9% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its stake in CME Group by 1,250.0% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting CME Group

Here are the key news stories impacting CME Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: CME Group and Silicon Data said they will launch the first compute futures market later this year, giving traders, AI builders, cloud providers, and financial institutions a new way to hedge and speculate on GPU/compute pricing. The move ties CME to the fast-growing AI infrastructure trade and could broaden its product lineup. CME Group and Silicon Data Partner to Launch First Compute Futures
• Positive Sentiment: Reports also highlighted CME’s planned expansion into compute futures as a way to bring more transparency and risk management to the AI “power” market, potentially attracting new institutional trading activity and boosting derivatives volume. Is AI power really the new oil? Soon it will trade like just like a commodity.
• Positive Sentiment: Separate commentary said CME is also expanding its digital-asset offerings with a “Bitcoin VIX”-style product, which could deepen its crypto franchise and support more trading volume in volatile markets. CME Is Launching a Bitcoin VIX: Here’s Why That Changes Wall Street’s Bitcoin Game
• Neutral Sentiment: One article argued CME still screens as a solid long-term stock, pointing to its valuation and earnings quality, but it did not introduce a new catalyst. Is CME Group Inc. (CME) A Good Stock To Buy Now?
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader macro coverage noted shifting Fed rate-cut odds using CME FedWatch data, but this was more a market backdrop item than a direct business-specific driver for CME shares. Rate Cut Odds Just Collapsed to 5%. History Says This Is When Record Highs Get Tested.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on CME. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut their price target on shares of CME Group from $340.00 to $316.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of CME Group from $343.00 to $316.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of CME Group from $356.00 to $349.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $295.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of CME Group from $275.00 to $267.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $305.29.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,317,117.55. This trade represents a 8.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.90, for a total transaction of $91,770.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 24,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,647,194.10. The trade was a 1.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 7,791 shares of company stock valued at $2,489,421. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $297.13 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $299.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $287.79. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $257.17 and a 52 week high of $329.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market cap of $107.67 billion, a PE ratio of 25.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.23.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.25. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.80 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.26 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.37%.

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.