Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 6.7% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 60,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,765 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $17,830,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FLC Capital Advisors bought a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,122,000. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. raised its holdings in CME Group by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 140,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,289,000 after purchasing an additional 3,931 shares in the last quarter. MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in CME Group by 138.8% in the fourth quarter. MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. now owns 7,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,953,000 after purchasing an additional 4,152 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 352,922 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,376,000 after buying an additional 22,692 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Braun Stacey Associates Inc. lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. now owns 104,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,456,000 after buying an additional 6,951 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $255.31 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $218.31 and a fifty-two week high of $329.16. The company has a market cap of $92.51 billion, a PE ratio of 21.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $254.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $281.22.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.08. The firm 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.96 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 44.11%.

Key Headlines Impacting CME Group

Here are the key news stories impacting CME Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: CME Group’s Q2 results topped expectations, and the stock was reported higher on the earnings beat. US Stock Market: CME shares jump 6% after Q2 profit beats estimates; strong hedging demand boosts results
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts noted strong fundamentals and at least one rating upgrade following the earnings release, which can support investor confidence. CME Group: Q2 Earnings Results Lead To A Rating Upgrade
• Neutral Sentiment: UBS reiterated a Hold rating and kept its $260 target, signaling solid fundamentals but limited upside at current valuation. Neutral Stance Reiterated on CME as Solid Fundamentals Meet Valuation Limits; $260 Price Target Maintained
• Negative Sentiment: Bank of America and JPMorgan both maintained bearish/underweight views, even though they slightly raised price targets, highlighting ongoing caution about upside. Analyst price target updates
• Negative Sentiment: Short-interest data showed no meaningful short position, so this headline is unlikely to be a real stock driver and does not change the core thesis.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CME. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of CME Group from $329.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $226.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target 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. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $291.81.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director William R. Shepard purchased 325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $230.57 per share, for a total transaction of $74,935.25. Following the purchase, the director owned 260,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,050,111.94. This trade represents a 0.12% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total transaction of $1,752,536.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,438,860.26. This represents a 17.20% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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.