Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Boosts Stock Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,772,731 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 96,583 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.77% of CME Group worth $749,164,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Caldwell Trust Co lifted its holdings in CME Group by 116.3% during the third quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 93 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Financial Consulate Inc. purchased a new position in CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. purchased a new position in CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Corundum Trust Company INC acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $307.36 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $110.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $247.08 and a 52 week high of $322.57. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $285.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $275.45.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 62.45% and a return on equity of 14.65%. CME Group’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.52 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.80%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Argus reduced their target price on CME Group from $308.00 to $295.00 in a report on Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on CME Group from $319.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $296.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $305.00 to $328.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $299.53.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $224,400.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,699 shares in the company, valued at $809,700. This represents a 21.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director William R. Shepard purchased 251 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $278.37 per share, for a total transaction of $69,870.87. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 258,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $72,017,102.70. This represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 30,248 shares of company stock worth $8,355,450 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.