Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Takes $146.41 Million Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 662,989 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $146,408,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CME. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 2,075.0% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID increased its stake in CME Group by 191.9% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Finally, Main Street Group LTD acquired a new position in CME Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME stock opened at $280.98 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $252.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $279.24. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $218.31 and a 12 month high of $329.16. The company has a market capitalization of $101.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

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

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CME has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $226.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Wall Street Zen cut CME Group from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on CME Group from $329.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on CME Group from $323.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $288.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director William R. Shepard bought 325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $230.57 per share, for a total transaction of $74,935.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 260,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,050,111.94. This represents a 0.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About CME Group

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.