Donaldson Capital Management LLC Has $61.04 Million Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Donaldson Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 230,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,253 shares during the period. CME Group comprises about 2.3% of Donaldson Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Donaldson Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.06% of CME Group worth $61,037,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 30.2% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 2,744 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $637,000 after acquiring an additional 636 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 28.4% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 8,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,088,000 after purchasing an additional 1,987 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR boosted its position in CME Group by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 2,312 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $537,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 34.0% in the fourth quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 4,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,100,000 after purchasing an additional 1,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 47.4% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 48,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,338,000 after purchasing an additional 15,704 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $266.10 on Wednesday. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $290.79. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $271.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $253.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.89 billion, a PE ratio of 27.52, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.19. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.50 EPS. CME Group’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 50.30%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Daniel G. Kaye sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.42, for a total value of $141,210.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,668 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,916.56. This trade represents a 12.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.50, for a total transaction of $108,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 6,708 shares in the company, valued at $1,861,470. This represents a 5.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 22,900 shares of company stock worth $6,147,935. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $269.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $258.20.

About CME Group

CME Group Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates contract markets for the trading of futures and options on futures contracts worldwide. It offers futures and options products based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, agricultural commodities, energy, and metals, as well as fixed income and foreign currency trading services.