CME Group Inc. $CME Stock Position Increased by Emmett Investment Management LP

Emmett Investment Management LP increased its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 39,405 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,495 shares during the period. CME Group makes up about 7.5% of Emmett Investment Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Emmett Investment Management LP’s holdings in CME Group were worth $10,475,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 1,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. West Family Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of CME Group by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 3,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $827,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its position in shares of CME Group by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Atlatl Advisers LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Atlatl Advisers LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $574,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, 1248 Management LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 26.8% in the 3rd quarter. 1248 Management LLC now owns 180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Rothschild & Co Redburn raised its price target on CME to $347 (maintaining a “neutral” rating), implying roughly double-digit upside from recent levels and offering fresh analyst support for the shares. Rothschild Co Redburn adjusts price target on CME to 347 from 333, maintains neutral rating
• Neutral Sentiment: CME’s CEO Terry Duffy publicly warned that U.S. government intervention in oil futures markets would be highly damaging; exchanges including CME have voiced opposition to potential Treasury action. This raises policy/regulatory risk for energy derivatives but also underscores the exchange’s central role in market integrity — a factor that can support trading volumes in energy products if volatility rises. US intervention in oil futures would be ‘biblical disaster’, CME warns CME Group CEO warns against US intervention in oil futures markets US intervention in oil futures market could be disastrous: CME Group
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest reporting in recent feeds shows zero or nonsensical values and appears to be a data anomaly rather than a real bearish signal; treat those short-interest items with caution. (Market impact minimal until corrected.)
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Ken Vroman (Chief Transformation Officer) sold about 5,160 shares (~$1.59M) and SEC filings show multiple recent insider sales across senior staff. While insider sales can be routine, the cadence and size may raise governance/owner-sentiment questions for some investors. CME Group’s Vroman sells $1.59 million in stock Insider Sale: Chief Transformation Officer of $CME Sells 5,160 Shares

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $311.40 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $112.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The business has a 50-day moving average of $295.80 and a 200 day moving average of $278.99. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $248.53 and a 12 month high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion for 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.52 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm 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 an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 46.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, Director Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $224,400.00. Following the sale, the director owned 2,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $809,700. This represents a 21.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.65, for a total value of $1,300,530.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 43,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,317,117.55. The trade was a 8.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 5,248 shares of company stock valued at $1,616,700 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $264.00 to $266.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $295.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Raymond James Financial lowered their price objective on shares of CME Group from $311.00 to $310.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $333.00 to $347.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $303.53.

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.