Seilern Investment Management Ltd Grows Stock Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Seilern Investment Management Ltd lifted its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 585.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 187,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 159,930 shares during the period. CME Group accounts for 3.7% of Seilern Investment Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Seilern Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in CME Group were worth $50,590,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in CME Group by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,176,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,695,313,000 after purchasing an additional 532,549 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 3.6% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,178,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,524,271,000 after buying an additional 319,899 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the second quarter valued at about $1,571,447,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 2.0% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,682,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,289,910,000 after buying an additional 92,925 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in CME Group by 6.6% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,833,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,056,476,000 after acquiring an additional 238,522 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Trading Up 1.2%

CME opened at $269.09 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.03 billion, a PE ratio of 26.07, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.28. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $224.62 and a one year high of $290.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $272.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $271.73.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.05. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 58.84%.The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.68 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. CME Group’s payout ratio is 48.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In related news, Director William R. Shepard bought 262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 25th. The shares were bought at an average price of $265.19 per share, with a total value of $69,479.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 258,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,540,742.21. This represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total transaction of $6,738,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 65,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,737,468.20. This represents a 27.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on CME. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of CME Group from $285.00 to $280.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on CME Group from $310.00 to $318.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on CME Group from $312.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Bank of America upped their target price on CME Group from $201.00 to $209.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on CME Group from $296.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $290.47.

CME Group Company 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.