Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI Makes New $12.74 Million Investment in CME Group Inc. $CME

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 57,708 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $12,744,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in CME Group by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,895,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,802,366,000 after buying an additional 588,509 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,144,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,408,747,000 after purchasing an additional 56,725 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at $1,523,241,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in CME Group by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,924,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,344,776,000 after purchasing an additional 134,242 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its stake in CME Group by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 4,319,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,179,858,000 after purchasing an additional 222,890 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $267.88 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.32 billion, a PE ratio of 22.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.23. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $250.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $280.07. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $218.31 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 results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.08. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 63.30%.The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.96 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 12.27 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 44.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $324.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on CME Group from $342.00 to $322.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on CME Group from $267.00 to $245.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings downgraded CME Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $291.81.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard bought 325 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $230.57 per share, for a total transaction of $74,935.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 260,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,050,111.94. This trade represents a 0.12% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by 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.