CME Group Inc. $CME Stock Acquired by M&G PLC

M&G PLC raised its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 20.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,329,259 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 221,469 shares during the quarter. CME Group accounts for about 1.8% of M&G PLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. M&G PLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $348,266,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vestor Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 19.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vestor Capital LLC now owns 10,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,685,000 after purchasing an additional 1,636 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 3,720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $975,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the period. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP grew its position in shares of CME Group by 69.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP now owns 2,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $781,000 after buying an additional 1,221 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 2.6% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 64,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,034,000 after buying an additional 1,634 shares during the last quarter. Finally, StoneRidge PMG Advisors LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $617,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard bought 293 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 25th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $268.76 per share, for a total transaction of $78,746.68. Following the purchase, the director owned 263,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $70,761,551.64. The trade was a 0.11% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 10,079 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.15, for a total transaction of $3,075,606.85. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 21,482 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,555,232.30. This trade represents a 31.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 32,979 shares of company stock valued at $9,552,762. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on CME Group from $315.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised CME Group from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $367.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $330.00 price target (up from $295.00) on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. CLSA set a $367.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $226.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.44.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $304.52 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The business has a 50-day moving average of $283.48 and a 200-day moving average of $280.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $109.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.98, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.15. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $218.31 and a fifty-two week high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $3.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.99 by $0.03. CME Group had a return on equity of 16.23% and a net margin of 63.33%. The business had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.68 earnings per share. CME Group’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 12.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 11th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 11th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 42.66%.

About CME Group

CME Group operates a global marketplace for derivatives and other financial products. Through its exchanges—CME, CBOT, NYMEX and COMEX—it offers futures and options contracts tied to interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural products and metals.

The company also provides clearing and settlement services, market data and related products. Its electronic trading platform, CME Globex, supports access to its markets by participants around the world, alongside its open-outcry and privately negotiated trading services.

CME Group was formed in 2007 through the merger of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade, institutions with roots in the 19th century.