Donaldson Capital Management LLC Has $5.83 Million Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

Donaldson Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 18.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,895 shares during the period. Donaldson Capital Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $5,834,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Amundi grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 24.0% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,987,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $548,150,000 after purchasing an additional 385,225 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 70,712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,106,000 after buying an additional 5,773 shares during the period. Alley Investment Management Company LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 86.0% in the 3rd quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 29,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,896,000 after buying an additional 13,512 shares in the last quarter. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 85.2% in the 3rd quarter. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,302,000 after buying an additional 3,919 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Financial Group LLC grew its position in CME Group by 310.2% in the second quarter. Victory Financial Group LLC now owns 3,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $839,000 after acquiring an additional 2,302 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on CME shares. Erste Group Bank upgraded CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $266.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $295.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $333.00 to $347.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $304.06.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME opened at $293.78 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company has a market cap of $105.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.32, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $302.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $281.88. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $248.53 and a 52-week high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $0.02. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.65% and a net margin of 62.45%.The company had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.52 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 46.59%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $13,317,117.55. This trade represents a 8.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total transaction of $1,097,120.67. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 7,192 shares in the company, valued at $2,397,597.04. The trade was a 31.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,539 shares of company stock worth $2,713,821. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.