National Pension Service Increases Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

National Pension Service boosted its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 927,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,748 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in CME Group were worth $250,470,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,660,000 after acquiring an additional 1,037 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in CME Group during the second quarter valued at $211,000. Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in CME Group by 10.0% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 64,939 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,898,000 after purchasing an additional 5,914 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in CME Group by 22.4% during the 2nd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 81,446 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,448,000 after purchasing an additional 14,921 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Exchange Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,039,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of CME opened at $289.06 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $233.66 and a 52-week high of $291.76. The stock has a market cap of $104.24 billion, a PE ratio of 28.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.27. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $275.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $272.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

CME Group Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CME. Piper Sandler upped their target price on CME Group from $296.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $264.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on CME Group from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on CME Group from $307.00 to $311.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on CME Group from $280.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $292.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 65,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,737,468.20. This trade represents a 27.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director William R. Shepard purchased 251 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was bought at an average price of $278.37 per share, with a total value of $69,870.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 258,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 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.