CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Purchased by Natural Investments LLC

Natural Investments LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 29.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the quarter. Natural Investments LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $362,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. GQG Partners LLC increased its position in CME Group by 7,676.3% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 2,205,041 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $584,975,000 after acquiring an additional 2,176,685 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in CME Group by 370.5% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,653,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $704,068,000 after acquiring an additional 2,089,935 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $218,842,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in CME Group by 185.5% in the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,244,608 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $330,182,000 after acquiring an additional 808,740 shares during the period. Finally, Egerton Capital UK LLP increased its position in CME Group by 79.4% in the 1st quarter. Egerton Capital UK LLP now owns 1,730,194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $459,003,000 after acquiring an additional 765,773 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on CME shares. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on CME Group from $246.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Citigroup upgraded CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $275.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Barclays lowered their price target on CME Group from $298.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on CME Group from $281.00 to $288.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $281.00.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $271.45 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.28, a PEG ratio of 5.72 and a beta of 0.41. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $268.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $271.22. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $213.94 and a 52-week high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 58.48%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.56 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th were given a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 379 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.83, for a total value of $98,475.57. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 9,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,470,463.64. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.47, for a total value of $3,229,407.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 17,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,734,436.80. This trade represents a 40.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 13,043 shares of company stock worth $3,527,956. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.