Madison Asset Management LLC Has $30.19 Million Stock Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Madison Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 110,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,194 shares during the period. Madison Asset Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $30,194,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanders Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,006,932,000. Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in CME Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $636,487,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in CME Group by 107.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,502,752 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $406,029,000 after purchasing an additional 777,571 shares during the period. Viking Global Investors LP purchased a new position in CME Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $164,648,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in CME Group by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,895,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,802,366,000 after purchasing an additional 588,509 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $285.75 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $299.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $287.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $257.17 and a 52 week high of $329.16. The firm has a market cap of $103.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.23.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.80 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 44.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CME shares. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on CME Group from $356.00 to $349.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Barclays reduced their price objective on CME Group from $343.00 to $316.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded CME Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of CME Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $310.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Friday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $305.29.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.65, for a total value of $1,300,530.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 43,007 shares in the company, valued at $13,317,117.55. This trade represents a 8.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.90, for a total transaction of $91,770.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 24,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,647,194.10. This represents a 1.19% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 7,791 shares of company stock worth $2,489,421. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CME Group 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.