Brevan Howard Capital Management LP Has $28.53 Million Stock Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Brevan Howard Capital Management LP reduced its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 39.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 105,580 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 69,136 shares during the quarter. CME Group comprises 0.1% of Brevan Howard Capital Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP’s holdings in CME Group were worth $28,527,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Amundi lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 24.0% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,987,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $548,150,000 after acquiring an additional 385,225 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in CME Group by 8.9% in the third quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 70,712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,106,000 after purchasing an additional 5,773 shares during the period. Alley Investment Management Company LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 86.0% in the third quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 29,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,896,000 after purchasing an additional 13,512 shares in the last quarter. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 85.2% in the third quarter. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,302,000 after purchasing an additional 3,919 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 310.2% during the second quarter. Victory Financial Group LLC now owns 3,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $839,000 after purchasing an additional 2,302 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, Director Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $224,400.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $809,700. The trade was a 21.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director William R. Shepard bought 251 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $278.37 per share, with a total value of $69,870.87. Following the purchase, the director owned 258,710 shares in the company, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 5,248 shares of company stock valued at $1,616,700 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting CME Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Rothschild & Co Redburn raised its price target on CME to $347 (maintaining a “neutral” rating), implying roughly double-digit upside from recent levels and offering fresh analyst support for the shares. Rothschild Co Redburn adjusts price target on CME to 347 from 333, maintains neutral rating
• Neutral Sentiment: CME’s CEO Terry Duffy publicly warned that U.S. government intervention in oil futures markets would be highly damaging; exchanges including CME have voiced opposition to potential Treasury action. This raises policy/regulatory risk for energy derivatives but also underscores the exchange’s central role in market integrity — a factor that can support trading volumes in energy products if volatility rises. US intervention in oil futures would be ‘biblical disaster’, CME warns CME Group CEO warns against US intervention in oil futures markets US intervention in oil futures market could be disastrous: CME Group
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest reporting in recent feeds shows zero or nonsensical values and appears to be a data anomaly rather than a real bearish signal; treat those short-interest items with caution. (Market impact minimal until corrected.)
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Ken Vroman (Chief Transformation Officer) sold about 5,160 shares (~$1.59M) and SEC filings show multiple recent insider sales across senior staff. While insider sales can be routine, the cadence and size may raise governance/owner-sentiment questions for some investors. CME Group’s Vroman sells $1.59 million in stock Insider Sale: Chief Transformation Officer of $CME Sells 5,160 Shares

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on CME shares. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $201.00 to $209.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on CME Group from $295.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on CME Group from $311.00 to $310.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of CME Group in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on CME Group from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $303.53.

CME Group Price Performance

CME stock opened at $311.40 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $295.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $278.99. The company has a market capitalization of $112.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.24. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $248.53 and a 52-week high of $329.16.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.59%.

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.