Korea Investment CORP Has $64 Million Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Korea Investment CORP grew its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 236,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,120 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in CME Group were worth $64,002,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Caldwell Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 116.3% during the third quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 93 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA purchased a new stake in CME Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Financial Consulate Inc. purchased a new stake in CME Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. purchased a new stake in CME Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Corundum Trust Company INC acquired a new stake in CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on CME. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on CME Group from $302.00 to $356.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on shares of CME Group from $311.00 to $310.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Friday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $262.00 to $266.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $305.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned 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 stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $302.71.

CME Group Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $317.10 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $114.35 billion, a PE ratio of 28.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.24. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $248.53 and a 1 year high of $329.16. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $292.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $277.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $0.02. CME Group had a net margin of 62.45% and a return on equity of 14.65%. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.52 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 44.80%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total transaction 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 approximately $17,737,468.20. This represents a 27.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director William R. Shepard bought 251 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $278.37 per share, for a total transaction of $69,870.87. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 258,710 shares in the company, valued at $72,017,102.70. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 30,248 shares of company stock valued at $8,355,450. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company 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.