CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Bought by Thornburg Investment Management Inc.

Thornburg Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,146,539 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 35,357 shares during the quarter. CME Group makes up 3.9% of Thornburg Investment Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.32% of CME Group worth $313,097,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,523,241,000. Sanders Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,006,932,000. Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $636,487,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 746.4% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,049,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $559,720,000 after buying an additional 1,807,491 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $217,656,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on CME. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on CME Group from $342.00 to $322.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded CME Group from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on CME Group from $362.00 to $353.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods initiated coverage on CME Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $305.00 target price for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on CME Group from $356.00 to $349.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $305.71.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME opened at $269.53 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $284.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $288.16. The company has a market capitalization of $97.67 billion, a PE ratio of 23.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.21. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $244.56 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. The business 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.80 EPS. Research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 44.37%.

Key Headlines Impacting CME Group

Here are the key news stories impacting CME Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: CME announced four new E-mini futures contracts tied to broad-market equity benchmarks, plus new Micro E-mini options on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100. These launches could attract more trading volume by giving investors additional, lower-cost ways to hedge and gain market exposure. CME Group to Expand Equity Index Suite with Launch of Four New E-mini Futures Contracts
• Positive Sentiment: The company also said it will expand 24/7 trading for WTI crude oil and gold, which could improve price discovery and make CME’s metals and energy products more attractive to global traders operating outside normal market hours. CME Group to Expand 24/7 Trading for WTI Crude Oil and Gold
• Positive Sentiment: CME launched Nasdaq CME Crypto Index futures and is moving deeper into digital-asset derivatives, giving investors regulated exposure to major cryptocurrencies and potentially opening another growth avenue for the exchange. CME Group Launches Crypto Index Futures Tracking Bitcoin, Solana and XRP
• Neutral Sentiment: Erste Group Bank slightly raised its FY2026 EPS estimate for CME, signaling stable earnings expectations rather than a major change in outlook.
• Negative Sentiment: Some commentary around the CFTC’s crypto oversight has raised concerns about regulatory pressure and market criticism, which could create uncertainty for CME’s expanding crypto-related products. CFTC’s Lone Chair Selig Expands Grip Over Crypto and Prediction Markets

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total value of $1,097,120.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 7,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,397,597.04. The trade was a 31.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total value of $1,752,536.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,438,860.26. This represents a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 44,044 shares of company stock valued at $13,297,507 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.