Destination Wealth Management Takes Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Destination Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 2,032 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $555,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,523,241,000. Sanders Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,006,932,000. Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $636,487,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 746.4% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,049,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $559,720,000 after purchasing an additional 1,807,491 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $217,656,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CME. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $342.00 to $322.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $266.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods began coverage on shares of CME Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $305.00 target price for the company. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $305.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Key CME Group News

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

• Positive Sentiment: CME announced four new E-mini futures contracts tied to broad-market equity benchmarks, plus new Micro E-mini options on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100. These launches could attract more trading volume by giving investors additional, lower-cost ways to hedge and gain market exposure. CME Group to Expand Equity Index Suite with Launch of Four New E-mini Futures Contracts
• Positive Sentiment: The company also said it will expand 24/7 trading for WTI crude oil and gold, which could improve price discovery and make CME’s metals and energy products more attractive to global traders operating outside normal market hours. CME Group to Expand 24/7 Trading for WTI Crude Oil and Gold
• Positive Sentiment: CME launched Nasdaq CME Crypto Index futures and is moving deeper into digital-asset derivatives, giving investors regulated exposure to major cryptocurrencies and potentially opening another growth avenue for the exchange. CME Group Launches Crypto Index Futures Tracking Bitcoin, Solana and XRP
• Neutral Sentiment: Erste Group Bank slightly raised its FY2026 EPS estimate for CME, signaling stable earnings expectations rather than a major change in outlook.
• Negative Sentiment: Some commentary around the CFTC’s crypto oversight has raised concerns about regulatory pressure and market criticism, which could create uncertainty for CME’s expanding crypto-related products. CFTC’s Lone Chair Selig Expands Grip Over Crypto and Prediction Markets

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $269.53 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $284.79 and a 200 day moving average of $288.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.21. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $244.56 and a 12-month high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.80 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.37%.

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.