Russell Investments Group Ltd. Raises Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 11.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,042,588 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 108,954 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.29% of CME Group worth $281,920,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 21.3% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 10,472 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,829,000 after purchasing an additional 1,841 shares in the last quarter. PFG Advisors increased its position in CME Group by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC increased its position in CME Group by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,575 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,265,000 after purchasing an additional 683 shares in the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 5.5% in the third quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 988,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $267,198,000 after buying an additional 51,570 shares during the period. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its holdings in CME Group by 0.6% in the third quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 10,973 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,965,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on CME. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $302.00 to $356.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped 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 report on Thursday, February 5th. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price target on CME Group from $300.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on CME Group from $262.00 to $266.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $302.71.

CME Group Trading Up 0.1%

CME opened at $317.10 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $292.18 and its 200-day moving average is $277.68. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $248.53 and a 52-week high of $329.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $114.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.24.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.80%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard bought 251 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $278.37 per share, with a total value of $69,870.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 258,710 shares in the company, valued at $72,017,102.70. The trade was a 0.10% increase 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 Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $224,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,699 shares in the company, valued at approximately $809,700. This trade represents a 21.70% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 30,248 shares of company stock valued at $8,355,450. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.