Nykredit A S Invests $31.25 Million in CME Group Inc. $CME

Nykredit A S bought a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 141,488 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $31,245,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CME. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the second quarter worth approximately $6,749,965,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,523,241,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in CME Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $867,313,000. Alphabet Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the second quarter worth $769,376,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the second quarter worth $629,771,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Stock Up 1.8%

CME opened at $276.09 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market cap of $99.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.42, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.24. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $218.31 and a 52 week high of $329.16. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $267.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $276.01.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.08. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 63.30%.The company had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.96 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.11%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, CEO Terrence Duffy sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.44, for a total transaction of $4,116,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 40,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,150,497.20. The trade was a 26.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Elizabeth Cook sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.11, for a total transaction of $140,055.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 17,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,018,450.76. This trade represents a 2.72% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $286.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $226.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $320.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. UBS Group lowered their price objective on CME Group from $310.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on CME Group from $316.00 to $270.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.75.

CME Group Profile

CME Group Inc operates global derivatives marketplaces that provide trading, clearing and settlement services for a broad range of financial and commodity products. Its exchange platforms enable participants to manage risk, discover prices and gain exposure to asset classes including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, metals, agricultural commodities and digital assets.

The company’s principal marketplaces include CME, CBOT, NYMEX and COMEX. Products are offered through futures and options contracts, with electronic trading available through CME Globex as well as exchange-based and privately negotiated transactions.