CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Acquired by Cullinan Associates Inc.

Cullinan Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 82.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 35,450 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,050 shares during the quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $9,578,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Amundi increased its position in CME Group by 24.0% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 1,987,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $548,150,000 after buying an additional 385,225 shares in the last quarter. Victory Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 310.2% during the second quarter. Victory Financial Group LLC now owns 3,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $839,000 after acquiring an additional 2,302 shares during the last quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 86.0% during the third quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 29,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,896,000 after acquiring an additional 13,512 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Capital LLC increased its position in CME Group by 583.8% during the 3rd quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 13,327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,601,000 after purchasing an additional 11,378 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Investors Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych Spolka Akcyjna acquired a new position in CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,389,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $268.45 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $96.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.27. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $273.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $271.78. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $225.46 and a fifty-two week high of $290.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 58.84% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.68 EPS. Analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th were issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 12th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.45%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total value of $6,738,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 65,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,737,468.20. The trade was a 27.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Harold Eugene Jr. Ford sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.53, for a total transaction of $263,530.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $287,511.23. This trade represents a 47.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on CME. Citigroup raised shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $275.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $288.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Argus decreased their target price on shares of CME Group from $308.00 to $295.00 in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on CME Group from $310.00 to $318.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on CME Group from $252.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $291.06.

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.