CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Acquired by Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A.

Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. grew its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1,013.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 561,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 511,215 shares during the period. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $147,407,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $6,749,965,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in CME Group by 39.1% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,019,944 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,187,290,000 after acquiring an additional 1,130,587 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in CME Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $867,313,000. Alphabet Inc. bought a new stake in CME Group during the second quarter worth about $769,376,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in CME Group during the second quarter worth about $629,771,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, insider Julie Winkler sold 10,079 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.15, for a total value of $3,075,606.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 21,482 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,555,232.30. This trade represents a 31.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Martin Gepsman sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.50, for a total value of $121,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 25,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,636,310. This represents a 1.56% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 33,511 shares of company stock worth $9,714,580. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $315.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Deutsche Bank downgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $286.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of CME Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 31st. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $330.00 price target (up from $295.00) on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, CLSA set a $367.00 price target on CME Group in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.44.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME opened at $315.50 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $112.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 0.15. 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 50 day moving average of $285.29 and a 200 day moving average of $281.38. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $218.31 and a twelve month high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $3.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.99 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 16.23% and a net margin of 63.33%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.68 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 11th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 11th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.66%.

CME Group Profile

CME Group operates a global marketplace for derivatives and other financial products. Through its exchanges—CME, CBOT, NYMEX and COMEX—it offers futures and options contracts tied to interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural products and metals. The company also provides clearing and settlement services, market data and related products. Its electronic trading platform, CME Globex, supports access to its markets by participants around the world, alongside its open-outcry and privately negotiated trading services.