Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec Makes New Investment in CME Group Inc. $CME

Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec purchased a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 549,939 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $121,443,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec owned 0.15% of CME Group as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CME. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 11,523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,147,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its holdings in CME Group by 4.3% in the third quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $243,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in CME Group by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. now owns 895 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. NBT Bank N A NY lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 1,666 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $492,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,073 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $317,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $280.98 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $252.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $279.24. The company has a market capitalization of $101.03 billion, a PE ratio of 23.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.23. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $218.31 and a 12-month high of $329.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.08. CME Group had a net margin of 63.30% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The business had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.68 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.96 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 44.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Erste Group Bank cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $316.00 to $323.00 in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Wall Street Zen cut CME Group from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings downgraded CME Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on CME Group from $267.00 to $245.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $288.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director William R. Shepard purchased 325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $230.57 per share, with a total value of $74,935.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 260,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,050,111.94. This represents a 0.12% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.