CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Acquired by Royal London Asset Management Ltd.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 548,735 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,495 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $149,849,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 345.2% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 237,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $64,965,000 after purchasing an additional 184,459 shares during the last quarter. Dover Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 95.5% during the third quarter. Dover Advisors LLC now owns 5,597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,512,000 after purchasing an additional 2,734 shares during the last quarter. FLC Capital Advisors bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth about $2,122,000. NEOS Investment Management LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 32.5% in the third quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 50,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,773,000 after purchasing an additional 12,503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ increased its holdings in CME Group by 1.6% in the third quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ now owns 114,411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,913,000 after buying an additional 1,777 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting CME Group

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on CME shares. Piper Sandler increased their target price on CME Group from $313.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods started coverage on CME Group in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $305.00 price target for the company. Erste Group Bank lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on CME Group from $342.00 to $322.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of CME Group from $343.00 to $316.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $305.71.

CME Group Stock Up 2.8%

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $269.53 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.00, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.21. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $244.56 and a twelve month 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $284.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $288.07.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.80 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total value of $1,752,536.39. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares in the company, valued at $8,438,860.26. This trade represents a 17.20% decrease in their position. The sale 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 business’s 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 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 44,044 shares of company stock valued at $13,297,507. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.