Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Increases Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 37.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 285,386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 77,148 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned 0.08% of CME Group worth $84,289,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 11.5% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,660,000 after acquiring an additional 1,037 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 103.1% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,018,000 after purchasing an additional 121,707 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 1,325.2% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 23,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,497,000 after purchasing an additional 21,918 shares in the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the 2nd quarter worth $992,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in CME Group by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 287,876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $79,344,000 after purchasing an additional 7,397 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on CME shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on CME Group from $275.00 to $267.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Erste Group Bank cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of CME Group from $362.00 to $353.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of CME Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $302.24.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total transaction of $1,752,536.39. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares in the company, valued at $8,438,860.26. This represents a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total value of $10,447,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,606,111.30. The trade was a 38.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CME Group Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $218.58 on Tuesday. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $218.31 and a fifty-two week 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 company has a market capitalization of $79.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.21. The company has a fifty day moving average of $271.58 and a 200 day moving average of $285.49.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.80 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th were given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 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.