CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Acquired by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 194,538 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,067 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $53,125,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 64.9% in the fourth quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 191.9% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1,250.0% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anfield Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 197.4% during the 4th quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total value of $10,447,850.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,606,111.30. The trade was a 38.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the general counsel directly owned 7,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,397,597.04. This represents a 31.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 44,044 shares of company stock valued at $13,297,507 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME opened at $252.64 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market cap of $91.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.56, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.21. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $244.56 and a 52-week high of $329.16. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $290.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $289.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.80 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on CME shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of CME Group from $342.00 to $322.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $356.00 to $349.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods assumed coverage on shares of CME Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $305.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of CME Group in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on CME Group from $313.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $305.29.

CME Group Company 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.