CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Bought by Kathmere Capital Management LLC

Kathmere Capital Management LLC raised its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 158.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,808 shares during the quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $806,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of CME. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,307,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,539,618,000 after acquiring an additional 130,698 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in CME Group during the 2nd quarter worth $1,571,447,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in CME Group by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,812,914 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,300,450,000 after purchasing an additional 130,848 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in CME Group by 6.6% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC purchased a new position in CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth $1,006,932,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, Director Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $224,400.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,699 shares in the company, valued at $809,700. The trade was a 21.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total value of $1,097,120.67. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 7,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,397,597.04. This trade represents a 31.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 8,539 shares of company stock worth $2,713,821 in the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $293.78 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $248.53 and a one year high of $329.16. The company has a market cap of $105.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.32, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $302.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $281.58.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 62.45% and a return on equity of 14.65%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.52 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $333.00 to $347.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $302.00 to $356.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on CME Group from $262.00 to $266.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on CME Group from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on CME Group from $305.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock a “buy” 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 issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $304.06.

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.