Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab Makes New $8.19 Million Investment in CME Group Inc. $CME

Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 30,307 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,189,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Caldwell Trust Co lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 116.3% during the 3rd 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 acquired a new stake in CME Group in the third quarter worth $27,000. Financial Consulate Inc. bought a new stake in CME Group in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. bought a new stake in CME Group in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Corundum Trust Company INC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director directly owned 2,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $809,700. This trade represents a 21.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 24,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,647,194.10. This represents a 1.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 5,248 shares of company stock valued at $1,616,700. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Down 0.2%

CME opened at $313.33 on Wednesday. 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 $297.46 and its 200 day moving average is $279.72. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $248.53 and a fifty-two week high of $329.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $112.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.08, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.24.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 62.45% and a return on equity of 14.65%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.52 EPS. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CME. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on CME Group from $311.00 to $310.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on CME Group from $302.00 to $356.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. TD Cowen raised their price objective on CME Group from $305.00 to $328.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of CME Group in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Two investment 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 issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $304.06.

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.