Phoenix Financial Ltd. Makes New Investment in CME Group Inc. $CME

Phoenix Financial Ltd. acquired a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 7,870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,127,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Norges Bank acquired a new position in CME Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,571,447,000. Viking Global Investors LP purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $164,648,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,176,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,695,313,000 after acquiring an additional 532,549 shares in the last quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd boosted its position in CME Group by 131,625.5% during the 2nd quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 486,067 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $133,970,000 after purchasing an additional 485,698 shares during the period. Finally, HRT Financial LP acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $127,103,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

CME opened at $284.48 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $102.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.57, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a 50-day moving average of $274.37 and a 200-day moving average of $272.05. 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 1-year low of $232.32 and a 1-year high of $290.79.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th were given a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 12th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CME. Argus decreased their target price on CME Group from $308.00 to $295.00 in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on CME Group from $304.00 to $302.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $310.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $292.18.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard bought 251 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $278.37 per share, for a total transaction of $69,870.87. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 258,710 shares in the company, valued at approximately $72,017,102.70. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total transaction of $6,738,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 65,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,737,468.20. The trade was a 27.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Company 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.