Mirabella Financial Services LLP Purchases 11,425 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Mirabella Financial Services LLP grew its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 211.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,823 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,425 shares during the period. Mirabella Financial Services LLP’s holdings in CME Group were worth $4,536,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,571,447,000. Sanders Capital LLC bought a new stake in CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,006,932,000. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $636,487,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 107.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,502,752 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $406,029,000 after acquiring an additional 777,571 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Viking Global Investors LP bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $164,648,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In related news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.65, for a total transaction of $1,300,530.00. Following the sale, the director owned 43,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,317,117.55. This represents a 8.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.90, for a total value of $91,770.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 24,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,647,194.10. This trade represents a 1.19% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,248 shares of company stock worth $1,616,700. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CME Group Stock Up 0.8%

CME Group stock opened at $313.83 on Tuesday. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $296.58 and its 200-day moving average is $279.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.17 billion, a PE ratio of 28.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.24. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $248.53 and a fifty-two week high of $329.16.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 46.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CME shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of CME Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on CME Group from $262.00 to $266.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $304.06.

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.