Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Boosts Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 22.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 72,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,000 shares during the period. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in CME Group were worth $19,507,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in CME Group by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,176,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,695,313,000 after acquiring an additional 532,549 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,178,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,524,271,000 after purchasing an additional 319,899 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,571,447,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 2.0% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,682,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,289,910,000 after purchasing an additional 92,925 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in CME Group by 6.6% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,833,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,056,476,000 after purchasing an additional 238,522 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 65,804 shares of the company’s stock, 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director William R. Shepard bought 251 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $278.37 per share, for a total transaction of $69,870.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 258,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $72,017,102.70. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on CME Group from $319.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $305.00 to $328.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $262.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on CME Group from $304.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Nine 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.59.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $302.48 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market cap of $109.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.27. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $278.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $273.60. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $244.43 and a fifty-two week high of $309.35.

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

CME Group News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: CME is reported to be weighing the launch of the market’s first rare‑earths futures contract, which would create a transparent benchmark for a China‑dominated commodity and could attract new institutional flows and hedging demand. Reuters: CME weighs launching first-ever rare earth futures contract
• Positive Sentiment: CME announced first trades in new cryptocurrency futures for Cardano (ADA), Chainlink (LINK) and Stellar (XLM), broadening its crypto product suite and creating potential incremental clearing, execution and open‑interest revenue. PR Newswire: CME Group Announces First Trades for New Cardano, Chainlink and Stellar Cryptocurrency Futures
• Positive Sentiment: CME plans to launch Single Stock Futures on 50+ major U.S. names (Alphabet, Meta, NVIDIA, Tesla, etc.), expanding addressable volume in equity derivatives and offering capital‑efficient exposures that may draw institutional traders. PR Newswire: CME Group to Launch Single Stock Futures
• Positive Sentiment: Prediction‑market volumes (notably around Super Bowl LX) got a boost and received public support from Wedbush, underscoring another high‑growth flow area for CME’s clearing and execution businesses. GlobeNewswire: Wedbush Supports CME Group Prediction Markets
• Neutral Sentiment: Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund disclosed adding ~38,147 shares of CME (~$10.4M), a meaningful institutional buy that supports demand, though it’s one fund’s portfolio move. QuiverQuant: Fund Update – Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund
• Neutral Sentiment: Goldman Sachs raised its price target to $266 — an upgrade in analyst conviction but the target is below current trading levels, so its market impact is mixed. AmericanBankingNews: Goldman Sachs Increases Price Target
• Negative Sentiment: Short interest rose earlier in the quarter to ~5.2M shares (about 1.4% of float) with a ~2.8 days‑to‑cover figure; some later reports appear inconsistent, but higher shorting can add downside pressure if sentiment shifts. (Data compiled from filings and market data.)

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.