Carnegie Investment Counsel Grows Stock Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Carnegie Investment Counsel grew its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 162,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,282 shares during the quarter. CME Group makes up about 0.9% of Carnegie Investment Counsel’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Carnegie Investment Counsel’s holdings in CME Group were worth $45,655,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter worth $1,523,241,000. Sanders Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,006,932,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in CME Group by 746.4% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,049,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $559,720,000 after acquiring an additional 1,807,491 shares in the last quarter. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth about $217,656,000. Finally, Viking Global Investors LP acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the second quarter worth about $164,648,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ:CME traded up $0.56 on Friday, hitting $240.27. 1,979,543 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,891,472. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $262.66 and a 200-day moving average of $283.19. The stock has a market cap of $87.06 billion, a PE ratio of 20.50, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $218.31 and a fifty-two week high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.80 earnings per share. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William R. Shepard acquired 325 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $230.57 per share, with a total value of $74,935.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 260,442 shares in the company, valued at $60,050,111.94. This represents a 0.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total value of $1,752,536.39. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,438,860.26. This represents a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CME Group News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: CME announced new products aimed at expanding trading activity, including Treasury LINK for U.S. Treasury spread trading and a new agriculture index that offers a unified benchmark for the global farm economy. CME Group to launch Treasury LINK for enhanced US Treasury spread trading CME Group’s New Agriculture Index Delivers Unified Price Benchmark for the Global Farm Economy
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley kept an overweight rating but lowered its price target on CME to $324 from $353, while Barclays cut its target to $270 and moved to equal weight, signaling reduced near-term expectations but not a fundamentally bearish view. Morgan Stanley cuts CME price target Barclays cuts CME price target
• Negative Sentiment: The CFTC blocked CME’s plan to fast-track 24/7 crude oil futures trading, a setback that could limit a potentially important new revenue stream and raises regulatory risk around product innovation. CFTC to block CME’s plan for 24/7 crude oil futures trading CFTC Blocks for Now CME’s Plan to Offer 24/7 Oil Futures
• Negative Sentiment: Reports also pointed to weaker trading volumes and rising competition weighing on CME Group, which could pressure transaction-based revenue growth if activity remains soft. Competition And Weaker Trading Volumes Are Weighing On CME Group (CME) Stock

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on CME Group from $353.00 to $324.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on CME Group from $266.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of CME Group from $356.00 to $349.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Erste Group Bank cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of CME Group from $267.00 to $245.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $293.59.

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.