MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH Invests $9.08 Million in CME Group Inc. $CME

MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH purchased a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 32,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,084,000. CME Group makes up about 1.0% of MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in CME Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,571,447,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 370.5% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,653,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $704,068,000 after buying an additional 2,089,935 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in shares of CME Group by 185.5% during the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,244,608 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $330,182,000 after buying an additional 808,740 shares in the last quarter. Viking Global Investors LP bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 2nd quarter worth $164,648,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,176,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,695,313,000 after acquiring an additional 532,549 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on CME. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on CME Group from $309.00 to $307.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 13th. Citigroup upgraded CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $275.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $296.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CME Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $280.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $290.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 392 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 7,851 shares in the company, valued at $2,056,962. This trade represents a 4.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Harold Eugene Jr. Ford sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.53, for a total value of $263,530.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $287,511.23. The trade was a 47.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 2,147 shares of company stock valued at $562,079 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $273.55 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $271.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $272.32. The company has a market capitalization of $98.64 billion, a PE ratio of 26.51, a PEG ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.28. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $224.62 and a 1-year high of $290.79. 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 (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.05. CME Group had a net margin of 58.84% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.68 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 48.45%.

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.