CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Acquired by Fayez Sarofim & Co

Fayez Sarofim & Co boosted its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,249,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,866 shares during the quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co’s holdings in CME Group were worth $337,547,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Key Stories Impacting CME Group

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

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.90, for a total value of $91,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 24,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,647,194.10. This represents a 1.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director William R. Shepard purchased 251 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $278.37 per share, for a total transaction of $69,870.87. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders sold 5,248 shares of company stock valued at $1,616,700 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on CME Group from $304.00 to $312.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on CME Group from $305.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on CME Group from $295.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on CME Group from $262.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $303.53.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $311.40 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $295.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $279.06. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $248.53 and a 12 month high of $329.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $112.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.24.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 62.45% and a return on equity of 14.65%. CME Group’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.52 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.