PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Increases Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 163,613 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,711 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $44,207,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Norges Bank purchased a new position in CME Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,571,447,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 107.2% in the third quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,502,752 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $406,029,000 after acquiring an additional 777,571 shares during the period. Viking Global Investors LP bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $164,648,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in CME Group by 1.5% during the second 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. Finally, Magellan Asset Management Ltd grew its stake in CME Group by 131,625.5% during the second quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 486,067 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $133,970,000 after acquiring an additional 485,698 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of CME stock opened at $303.07 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $280.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $274.14. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $244.43 and a 12-month high of $309.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $109.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.27.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by $0.02. The company 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%.CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.52 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.80%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard bought 251 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were bought at an average price of $278.37 per share, for a total transaction of $69,870.87. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 258,710 shares in the company, valued at $72,017,102.70. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $224,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $809,700. This represents a 21.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on CME shares. Argus cut their price target on shares of CME Group from $308.00 to $295.00 in a report on Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on CME Group from $319.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on CME Group from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on CME Group from $296.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $299.53.

About CME Group

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.