Coastline Trust Co Makes New Investment in CME Group Inc. $CME

Coastline Trust Co purchased a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 2,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $765,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Caldwell Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 116.3% during the third 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. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA acquired a new position in CME Group in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Financial Consulate Inc. purchased a new position in CME Group during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its position in CME Group by 1,250.0% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Sagard Holdings Management Inc. acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $13,317,117.55. This represents a 8.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director William R. Shepard bought 251 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $278.37 per share, for a total transaction of $69,870.87. Following the purchase, the director owned 258,710 shares in the company, valued at approximately $72,017,102.70. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders sold 8,539 shares of company stock valued at $2,713,821 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Key CME Group News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Goldman Sachs published a bullish forecast for CME, calling for strong price appreciation — this likely supported upside sentiment among investors. Goldman Sachs Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for CME Group
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst coverage remains mixed but constructive overall: multiple firms maintain buy/overweight stances and some price targets (e.g., TD Cowen, Morgan Stanley) are above the current trading level, while others (e.g., JP Morgan) are more conservative — this creates a balanced catalyst set for price discovery. Quiver Quant – Analyst ratings & price targets summary
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short-interest data for March shows zero shares shorted (days-to-cover 0.0), but the figures look erroneous/artefactual (NaN and repeated 0 values). As reported, this offers no reliable signal on bearish positioning.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: CME’s Senior MD & General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares (~$1.1M) on March 17, reducing his stake by ~31%. Market participants often view sizable insider sales as a short-term negative signal. SEC Form 4 – Marcus sale
• Negative Sentiment: Aggregated insider activity over recent months shows more sales than buys (multiple senior executives have sold shares), which can weigh on sentiment if investors interpret this as executives taking gains rather than signaling long-term conviction. Quiver Quant – Insider activity

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $310.71 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $299.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $280.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $112.04 billion, a PE ratio of 27.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.24. 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 12 month low of $248.53 and a 12 month high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. The company’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.52 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on CME shares. Raymond James Financial lowered their price target on CME Group from $311.00 to $310.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $305.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $295.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $262.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned 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, the stock currently has an average 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.