Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Boosts Stock Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 44.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,118 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,190 shares during the quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,923,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CME. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,660,000 after purchasing an additional 1,037 shares during the period. MQS Management LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $219,000. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 46.1% in the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,762 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $486,000 after purchasing an additional 556 shares in the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 46.7% during the second quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,166 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $321,000 after buying an additional 371 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in CME Group by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 584,815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $161,187,000 after purchasing an additional 14,609 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME opened at $319.03 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $115.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $284.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $275.23. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $247.08 and a 52-week high of $319.24.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 62.45% and a return on equity of 14.65%. CME Group’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.52 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.80%.

Key Headlines Impacting CME Group

Here are the key news stories impacting CME Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Record U.S. Treasury activity — Open interest in CME’s U.S. Treasury futures and options hit a new record of 36.33 million contracts (Feb. 19), with additional OI records in the 2-, 5-, 10- and 30‑year products. Higher OI implies stronger fee and clearing revenue potential for CME. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst/ratings momentum — CME earned an RS (relative strength) rating upgrade and firms including Erste Group have lifted earnings estimates, supporting the stock’s re-rating and investor interest. These upgrades reinforce recent positive sentiment after CME’s modest beat on Q4 revenue/earnings. Read More. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend raise and institutional demand — Recent disclosures show CME raised its quarterly dividend (to $1.30) and has heavy institutional ownership and sizable buys from large funds, which supports total-return appeal and may underpin valuation. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Crypto flows and derivatives positioning — Coverage notes that Bitcoin futures positioning on CME has shifted to net long and mining resilience might spur futures activity; this could boost crypto-related volumes but is uncertain and dependent on broader crypto price action. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Contextual earnings coverage — Recent Q4 commentary and comparisons with peers highlight solid margins and revenue growth, but some analysts still see valuation limits absent sustained volume growth; useful context for longer-term expectations. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Director insider sale — Director Bryan Durkin sold 4,200 shares (~$1.3M) on Feb. 23, trimming his holding by ~8.9%. Insider sales can raise short‑term concerns, though the sale size is small relative to overall institutional ownership. Read More.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.65, for a total transaction of $1,300,530.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 43,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,317,117.55. This trade represents a 8.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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 value of $6,738,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 65,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,737,468.20. The trade was a 27.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 30,248 shares of company stock worth $8,355,450 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of CME Group in a report on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on CME Group from $262.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on CME Group from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $295.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $310.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a report on Friday, February 6th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $299.53.

CME Group 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.