Platform Wealth Management LLC Takes $5.22 Million Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Platform Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 19,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,224,000. CME Group comprises 1.4% of Platform Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CME. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 11.5% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,660,000 after buying an additional 1,037 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in CME Group by 103.1% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,018,000 after purchasing an additional 121,707 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in CME Group by 1,325.2% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 23,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,497,000 after purchasing an additional 21,918 shares during the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC acquired a new position in CME Group during the second quarter worth approximately $992,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in CME Group by 2.6% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 287,876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $79,344,000 after purchasing an additional 7,397 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total value of $1,097,120.67. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 7,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,397,597.04. This represents a 31.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total transaction of $1,752,536.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,438,860.26. The trade was a 17.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 44,044 shares of company stock valued at $13,297,507 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of CME Group from $340.00 to $323.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $266.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of CME Group in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of CME Group from $362.00 to $353.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $305.29.

CME Group Price Performance

CME Group stock opened at $252.64 on Thursday. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $244.56 and a 52-week high of $329.16. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $290.01 and a 200-day moving average of $289.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.56, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.80 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.37%.

CME Group Company Profile

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.