Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Grows Stock Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund lifted its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 43.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 117,845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,700 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in CME Group were worth $32,480,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CME. GQG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 7,676.3% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 2,205,041 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $584,975,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176,685 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in CME Group by 370.5% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,653,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $704,068,000 after purchasing an additional 2,089,935 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in CME Group in the first quarter valued at $218,842,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in CME Group by 185.5% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,244,608 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $330,182,000 after purchasing an additional 808,740 shares during the period. Finally, Egerton Capital UK LLP boosted its holdings in CME Group by 79.4% in the first quarter. Egerton Capital UK LLP now owns 1,730,194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $459,003,000 after purchasing an additional 765,773 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays decreased their price target on CME Group from $298.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on CME Group from $288.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on CME Group from $262.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CME Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $284.53.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 379 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.83, for a total value of $98,475.57. Following the transaction, the insider owned 9,508 shares in the company, valued at $2,470,463.64. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.47, for a total value of $3,229,407.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 17,440 shares in the company, valued at $4,734,436.80. This trade represents a 40.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,043 shares of company stock worth $3,527,956 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CME Group Stock Up 0.6%

CME opened at $271.09 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $266.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $272.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $213.94 and a one year high of $290.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.65 and a beta of 0.41.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.05. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 58.84%.The business had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.68 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 48.45%.

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.