CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Acquired by Intech Investment Management LLC

Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 26.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 74,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,469 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $20,171,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Norges Bank acquired a new position in CME Group during the second quarter valued at $1,571,447,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 107.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,502,752 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $406,029,000 after buying an additional 777,571 shares during the period. Viking Global Investors LP acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $164,648,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.5% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,176,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,695,313,000 after buying an additional 532,549 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Magellan Asset Management Ltd grew its holdings in CME Group by 131,625.5% during the second quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 486,067 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $133,970,000 after acquiring an additional 485,698 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director William R. Shepard bought 251 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $278.37 per share, for a total transaction of $69,870.87. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 258,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $72,017,102.70. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total value of $6,738,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 65,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,737,468.20. The trade was a 27.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 30,248 shares of company stock valued at $8,355,450 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America boosted their price target on CME Group from $201.00 to $209.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $262.00 to $266.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $300.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $319.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on CME Group from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $299.53.

CME Group Trading Down 3.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $307.36 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $247.08 and a 52 week high of $322.57. The company has a market cap of $110.83 billion, a PE ratio of 27.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.27. The company’s 50 day moving average is $285.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $275.45.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 62.45% and a return on equity of 14.65%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.52 EPS. Equities analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.80%.

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.