Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Raises Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lifted its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 31.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 398,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 94,659 shares during the quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned about 0.11% of CME Group worth $109,902,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in CME Group by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,643,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,190,661,000 after acquiring an additional 400,737 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 3.6% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,178,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,524,271,000 after purchasing an additional 319,899 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 9.7% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 4,113,991 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,091,401,000 after purchasing an additional 363,130 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in shares of CME Group by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,920,046 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $804,823,000 after purchasing an additional 84,005 shares during the period. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,790,592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $769,143,000 after buying an additional 44,377 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Argus dropped their target price on shares of CME Group from $308.00 to $295.00 in a report on Friday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on CME Group from $262.00 to $263.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their target price on CME Group from $297.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on CME Group from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $287.65.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $285.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $222.56 and a 1 year high of $290.79. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $267.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $272.85. The company has a market cap of $102.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.62, a PEG ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.38.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.05. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 58.84%.The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.68 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 48.45%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.00, for a total transaction of $102,704.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 7,851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,056,962. This represents a 4.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 379 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.83, for a total value of $98,475.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 9,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,470,463.64. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,043 shares of company stock worth $3,791,486. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About CME Group

CME Group Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates contract markets for the trading of futures and options on futures contracts worldwide. It offers futures and options products based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, agricultural commodities, energy, and metals, as well as fixed income and foreign currency trading services.