Markel Group Inc. Purchases 13,750 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Markel Group Inc. increased its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 43.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,750 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 13,750 shares during the period. Markel Group Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $12,493,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management bought a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $256,000. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. bought a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $914,000. FourThought Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC now owns 40,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,937,000 after purchasing an additional 687 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 71.1% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 15,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,145,000 after purchasing an additional 6,306 shares during the period. Finally, Trajan Wealth LLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Trajan Wealth LLC now owns 19,890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,432,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $291.23 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $296.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $289.12. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $257.17 and a 1 year high of $329.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. The business’s revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.80 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 12.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of CME Group 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 transaction, the general counsel directly owned 7,192 shares in the company, valued at $2,397,597.04. This trade represents a 31.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.65, for a total transaction of $1,300,530.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 43,007 shares in the company, valued at $13,317,117.55. The trade was a 8.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 48,244 shares of company stock valued at $14,598,037 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on CME. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods began coverage on shares of CME Group in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $305.00 price target for the company. Rothschild & Co Redburn reduced their price target on shares of CME Group from $340.00 to $316.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of CME Group from $343.00 to $316.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $305.29.

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.