NEOS Investment Management LLC Has $13.77 Million Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

NEOS Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 32.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,503 shares during the period. NEOS Investment Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $13,773,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Caldwell Trust Co boosted its holdings in CME Group by 116.3% during the third quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 93 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA bought a new stake in CME Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. bought a new position in CME Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Corundum Trust Company INC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $303.23 on Wednesday. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $244.43 and a 12-month high of $309.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $109.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $281.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $274.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion for 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.52 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director William R. Shepard acquired 251 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $278.37 per share, for a total transaction of $69,870.87. Following the transaction, the director owned 258,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $72,017,102.70. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $224,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $809,700. This represents a 21.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CME has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $295.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on CME Group from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Argus decreased their price target on shares of CME Group from $308.00 to $295.00 in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $299.53.

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.