North Dakota State Investment Board Acquires New Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

North Dakota State Investment Board acquired a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 12,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,368,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,895,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,802,366,000 after purchasing an additional 588,509 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in CME Group by 2.8% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,812,914 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,300,450,000 after buying an additional 130,848 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC purchased a new position in CME Group during the third quarter worth about $1,006,932,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in CME Group by 0.6% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,381,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $913,548,000 after buying an additional 20,213 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in CME Group by 23.0% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,830,323 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $764,725,000 after buying an additional 528,358 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Up 2.1%

NASDAQ CME opened at $305.12 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $297.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $288.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $257.17 and a one year high of $329.16. The firm has a market cap of $110.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.03, a PEG ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.23.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.80 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total value of $1,097,120.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 7,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,397,597.04. This trade represents a 31.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.65, for a total transaction of $1,300,530.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 43,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,317,117.55. The trade was a 8.90% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 42,791 shares of company stock worth $12,937,271. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on CME shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of CME Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $295.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered their target price on shares of CME Group from $340.00 to $316.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $266.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $305.29.

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.