Czech National Bank Increases Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

Czech National Bank grew its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 95,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,554 shares during the period. Czech National Bank’s holdings in CME Group were worth $25,965,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Caldwell Trust Co lifted 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 period. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA acquired a new position in CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Financial Consulate Inc. purchased a new position in CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 1,250.0% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Sagard Holdings Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on CME shares. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $201.00 to $209.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on CME Group from $295.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. 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. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their target price on CME Group from $333.00 to $347.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Two 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $304.06.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $293.93 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $301.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $281.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $105.41 billion, a PE ratio of 26.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.24. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $248.53 and a fifty-two week high of $329.16.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. CME Group’s payout ratio is 46.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In related news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.65, for a total transaction of $1,300,530.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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 sale, the director owned 24,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,647,194.10. The trade was a 1.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 8,539 shares of company stock worth $2,713,821. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.