Peak Retirement Planning Inc. Grows Stake in CME Group Inc. $CME

Peak Retirement Planning Inc. increased its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 39.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,811 shares during the period. Peak Retirement Planning Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,718,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in CME Group by 1.5% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,176,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,695,313,000 after purchasing an additional 532,549 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,178,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,524,271,000 after buying an additional 319,899 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the 2nd quarter worth $1,571,447,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of CME Group by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,682,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,289,910,000 after buying an additional 92,925 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,833,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,056,476,000 after acquiring an additional 238,522 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on CME shares. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on CME Group from $282.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on CME Group from $296.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on CME Group from $304.00 to $302.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $280.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Nine equities research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $292.18.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME Group stock opened at $290.77 on Tuesday. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $238.12 and a 1-year high of $293.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $275.56 and a 200-day moving average of $272.39. The firm has a market cap of $104.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.27.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th were issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 12th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 48.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total value of $6,738,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 65,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,737,468.20. This represents a 27.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director William R. Shepard acquired 251 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $278.37 per share, with a total value of $69,870.87. Following the transaction, the director owned 258,710 shares in the company, valued at $72,017,102.70. This represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 0.30% of the stock is currently 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.