Securian Asset Management Inc. Has $2.68 Million Stake in CME Group Inc. $CME

Securian Asset Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 43.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,571 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $2,678,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 70,712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,106,000 after buying an additional 5,773 shares during the last quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 86.0% in the third quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 29,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,896,000 after buying an additional 13,512 shares during the last quarter. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 85.2% in the third quarter. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,302,000 after buying an additional 3,919 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 78.8% in the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 13,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,588,000 after buying an additional 5,855 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 345.2% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 237,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $64,965,000 after buying an additional 184,459 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was 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 $7,647,194.10. The trade was a 1.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.65, for a total value of $1,300,530.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 43,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,317,117.55. This trade represents a 8.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 7,791 shares of company stock worth $2,489,421 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on CME shares. Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of CME Group in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Erste Group Bank upgraded CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on CME Group from $340.00 to $323.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded CME Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on CME Group from $313.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. 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 two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $305.29.

CME Group Stock Up 0.5%

CME opened at $282.58 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $300.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $287.46. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $257.17 and a twelve month high of $329.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $102.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.23.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.80 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 12.26 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 44.37%.

About CME Group

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.