CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Purchased by Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY

Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY raised its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 5,269.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 195,433 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 191,793 shares during the quarter. CME Group comprises about 1.6% of Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY’s holdings in CME Group were worth $57,721,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. West Family Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.2% in the third quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 3,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $827,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 64.9% during the 4th quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 11,523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,147,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group boosted its holdings in CME Group by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $243,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, 1248 Management LLC grew its position in CME Group by 26.8% in the third quarter. 1248 Management LLC now owns 180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total transaction of $10,447,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 55,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,606,111.30. This trade represents a 38.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total value of $1,752,536.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 27,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,438,860.26. This trade represents a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CME. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $316.00 to $323.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of CME Group from $323.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $320.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $302.24.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME Group stock opened at $242.26 on Wednesday. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $241.45 and a 52 week high of $329.16. 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 stock has a market cap of $87.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.21. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $277.47 and a 200-day moving average of $286.82.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.25. The business 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 business’s revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.80 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

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

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.