PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab Purchases New Stake in CME Group Inc. $CME

PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 264,193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $72,872,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Caldwell Trust Co boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 64.9% in the 4th quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA bought a new position in CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Financial Consulate Inc. bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on CME shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on CME Group from $362.00 to $353.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded CME Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, April 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on CME Group from $275.00 to $267.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on CME Group from $266.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Two equities research 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $305.29.

CME Group Price Performance

CME Group stock opened at $289.54 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $104.92 billion, a PE ratio of 24.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $303.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $286.68. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The company’s revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.80 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th were paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 10th. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 44.37%.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total transaction of $1,097,120.67. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel 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. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.90, for a total transaction of $91,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 24,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,647,194.10. This represents a 1.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 8,539 shares of company stock worth $2,713,821. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CME Group 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.