CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Purchased by Conning Inc.

Conning Inc. grew its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 126,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,463 shares during the quarter. CME Group makes up approximately 1.1% of Conning Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest position. Conning Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $34,181,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Caldwell Trust Co boosted its holdings in CME Group by 116.3% in the third quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 93 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 84.3% during the second quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Sagard Holdings Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $275.23 on Thursday. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $225.46 and a 12-month high of $290.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.27. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $274.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $271.81.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.05. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 58.84%.The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.68 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th were issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 12th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $296.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on CME Group from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Argus cut their price target on CME Group from $308.00 to $295.00 in a report on Friday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on CME Group from $264.00 to $263.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Cowen raised CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $291.94.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, Director William R. Shepard bought 251 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were 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 purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Harold Eugene Jr. Ford sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.53, for a total transaction of $263,530.00. Following the sale, the director owned 1,091 shares in the company, valued at $287,511.23. This trade represents a 47.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.