Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Sells 344,257 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lowered its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 53.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 295,339 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 344,257 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $80,651,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. West Family Investments Inc. grew its position in CME Group by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 3,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $827,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group grew its position in CME Group by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $243,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Atlatl Advisers LLC grew its position in CME Group by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Atlatl Advisers LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $574,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. 1248 Management LLC grew its position in CME Group by 26.8% during the 3rd quarter. 1248 Management LLC now owns 180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sovran Advisors LLC grew its position in CME Group by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 1,118 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $305,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $224,400.00. Following the sale, the director owned 2,699 shares in the company, valued at $809,700. This represents a 21.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total value of $1,097,120.67. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 7,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,397,597.04. The trade was a 31.39% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 8,539 shares of company stock worth $2,713,821 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $295.30 on Monday. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $251.90 and a one year high of $329.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $306.36 and its 200 day moving average is $284.70. The firm has a market cap of $105.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.46, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.26.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 10th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.59%.

Key CME Group News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley raised its price target to $362 and reiterated an “overweight” view, signaling materially higher analyst conviction on CME’s revenue mix and cash returns. Morgan Stanley raise
• Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen raised its target to $340 and kept a “buy” rating — another upside-biased revision supporting upside expectations. TD Cowen upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: CME confirmed it will launch SUI futures in early May, expanding its crypto derivatives product set and opening a new institutional revenue stream. Product expansion is a tangible growth catalyst. SUI futures launch
• Neutral Sentiment: Jefferies trimmed its price target to $349 from $356 but maintained a “buy” rating — a modest downgrade that still implies upside, so impact is mixed. Jefferies PT cut
• Neutral Sentiment: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods began coverage of CME — fresh analyst attention can help liquidity and visibility but the near-term directional effect depends on published views. KBW begins coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data is mixed: reported short interest fell 15.6% in late March to ~4.7M shares (about 1.3% of float, ~2.3 days to cover), which reduces immediate bearish pressure; however, an April 10 reporting entry shows an anomalous “0 shares/NaN” figure, creating data uncertainty for traders. (Internal short-interest reports)
• Negative Sentiment: The White House issued an ethics warning after large, time-sensitive trading in oil futures and gains in prediction markets tied to geopolitical events. That has raised political and regulatory scrutiny of trading venues and prediction/derivatives markets — an elevated oversight risk that could lead to tighter rules or reputational scrutiny for exchanges like CME. White House ethics warning

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Erste Group Bank upgraded CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on CME Group from $340.00 to $362.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on CME Group from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on CME Group from $356.00 to $349.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $309.18.

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.