Swedbank AB Increases Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

Swedbank AB grew its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 182,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,588 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned approximately 0.05% of CME Group worth $49,441,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of CME. Webster Bank N. A. lifted its position in CME Group by 206.9% in the second quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 89 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 84.3% during the second quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 59.2% in the 2nd quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME opened at $276.37 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $224.62 and a 1 year high of $290.79. The company’s fifty day moving average is $272.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $271.76.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 58.84% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The business’s revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.68 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 48.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the subject of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on CME Group from $310.00 to $318.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Citigroup upgraded shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $275.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $288.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $297.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $252.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $290.82.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Harold Eugene Jr. Ford sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.53, for a total transaction of $263,530.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $287,511.23. The trade was a 47.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total value of $6,738,750.00. Following the completion of 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Company 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.