AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Boosts Stake in CME Group Inc. $CME

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc raised its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 289,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,121 shares during the period. CME Group accounts for 0.9% of AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc owned 0.08% of CME Group worth $79,134,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Caldwell Trust Co increased its stake 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 worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 64.9% during the 4th quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Financial Consulate Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Down 0.2%

CME opened at $285.02 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $304.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $286.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $102.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.03. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $257.17 and a one year high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.80 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.8%. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 44.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CME. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of CME Group from $340.00 to $323.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Rothschild & Co Redburn reduced their price objective on shares of CME Group from $347.00 to $340.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $295.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $306.71.

Key CME Group News

Here are the key news stories impacting CME Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Record Q1 revenue and volumes: CME reported record Q1 revenue and a surge in trading volumes, driven by higher hedging and risk-management activity — a core driver of futures and options trading revenue. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Earnings-call commentary backs the volume story: Management emphasized broad-based demand and rising market risk that is increasing hedging flows — a positive outlook for transaction-driven revenue. Article Title Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Full earnings transcript available for deeper color: Investors can review management’s detail on volume drivers and segment performance. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple analysts trimmed price targets but kept constructive ratings: Deutsche Bank cut its PT to $322 (keeps buy) and TD Cowen cut to $323 (keeps buy); Morgan Stanley trimmed to $353 but retained overweight — these lower targets reflect model updates despite continued positive ratings. Article Title Article Title Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: No meaningful short-interest signal: the short-interest data published for April is effectively zero/unchanged and does not explain the move. (No linked article.)
• Negative Sentiment: Goldman maintains a sell rating and lowered its PT to $267 — the most bearish big-bank view in the group and a direct negative for sentiment. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Mixed market reaction and some headline takes that Q1 sales missed analyst expectations or that the stock looks expensive post-earnings — these narratives can pressure short-term price action despite strong volume trends. Article Title Article Title

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.65, for a total transaction of $1,300,530.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 43,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,317,117.55. The trade was a 8.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction 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 sale, the general counsel directly owned 7,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,397,597.04. This represents a 31.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 8,539 shares of company stock valued at $2,713,821. 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.