Janus Henderson Group PLC Buys 236,213 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 13.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,048,415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 236,213 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned about 0.57% of CME Group worth $559,389,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 11.5% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,660,000 after buying an additional 1,037 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 103.1% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,018,000 after purchasing an additional 121,707 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 1,325.2% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 23,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,497,000 after purchasing an additional 21,918 shares during the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC acquired a new position in CME Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $992,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in CME Group by 2.6% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 287,876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $79,344,000 after acquiring an additional 7,397 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

More CME Group News

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

• Positive Sentiment: CME announced a planned leadership transition that appears orderly: longtime CEO Terry Duffy will move to executive chairman in March 2027, while President and CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick will become CEO. Investors may view the succession plan as reducing near-term key-person risk. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Management’s transition also signals continuity, since Fitzpatrick already serves as president and CFO and has been part of CME’s leadership team. That makes the handoff less disruptive than an outside hire. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Duffy said CME plans to sue the CFTC over perpetual futures, highlighting a more confrontational regulatory backdrop. The dispute could add legal uncertainty and revive investor concerns about competition from new crypto derivatives products. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Kraken’s launch of perpetual futures for U.S. traders through a CFTC-regulated venue adds to fears that competitors could chip away at CME’s crypto derivatives franchise over time. Article Title

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total transaction of $1,752,536.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares in the company, valued at $8,438,860.26. This trade represents a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total transaction of $10,447,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 55,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,606,111.30. This represents a 38.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $252.54 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $282.02 and a 200-day moving average of $287.75. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $244.56 and a 1-year 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 $91.51 billion, a PE ratio of 21.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.21.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.80 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CME. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of CME Group from $343.00 to $316.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered 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. Piper Sandler set a $320.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods began coverage on shares of CME Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $305.00 price objective on the stock. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $305.18.

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.