CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Purchased by Bank of Nova Scotia

Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 126,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,468 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in CME Group were worth $34,237,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Key Headlines 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

CME Group Trading Up 0.1%

NASDAQ:CME opened at $311.40 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $248.53 and a fifty-two week high of $329.16. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $295.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $279.06. The stock has a market cap of $112.29 billion, a PE ratio of 27.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.24.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 62.45% and a return on equity of 14.65%. The firm’s 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. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.59%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.65, for a total value of $1,300,530.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 43,007 shares in the company, valued at $13,317,117.55. This represents a 8.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.90, for a total transaction of $91,770.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 24,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Insiders have sold 5,248 shares of company stock worth $1,616,700 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $201.00 to $209.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on CME Group from $264.00 to $266.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings raised CME Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of CME Group in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on CME Group from $305.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $303.53.

CME Group 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.