Donaldson Capital Management LLC Has $61.04 Million Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Donaldson Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.8% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 230,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,253 shares during the period. CME Group accounts for about 2.3% of Donaldson Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Donaldson Capital Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $61,037,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CME. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 30.2% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 2,744 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $637,000 after acquiring an additional 636 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 28.4% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 8,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,088,000 after acquiring an additional 1,987 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 2,312 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $537,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 34.0% during the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 4,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,100,000 after acquiring an additional 1,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 47.4% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 48,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,338,000 after acquiring an additional 15,704 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, Director Larry G. Gerdes sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.10, for a total value of $528,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 38,651 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,207,729.10. This represents a 4.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Dennis Suskind sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.28, for a total value of $271,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,915 shares in the company, valued at $790,781.20. The trade was a 25.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 22,900 shares of company stock worth $6,147,935 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on CME shares. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $282.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $258.20.

CME Group Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $266.10 on Wednesday. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $290.79. The company has a market cap of $95.89 billion, a PE ratio of 27.52, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a 50-day moving average of $271.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $253.64.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.19. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.50 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.30%.

CME Group Company Profile

CME Group Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates contract markets for the trading of futures and options on futures contracts worldwide. It offers futures and options products based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, agricultural commodities, energy, and metals, as well as fixed income and foreign currency trading services.