Vancity Investment Management Ltd Sells 3,218 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Vancity Investment Management Ltd lowered its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 10.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 27,949 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,218 shares during the period. CME Group accounts for about 1.0% of Vancity Investment Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Vancity Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in CME Group were worth $7,632,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 11.5% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,660,000 after purchasing an additional 1,037 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 103.1% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,018,000 after buying an additional 121,707 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 21,918 shares during the period. Nebula Research & Development LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $992,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake 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 valued at $79,344,000 after buying an additional 7,397 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CME Group News Summary

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

• Neutral Sentiment: CME announced a planned CEO succession: longtime chief Terry Duffy will step down in March 2027 and transition to executive chairman, while President and CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick will become CEO. The move also makes Fitzpatrick CME’s first woman chief executive, which supports continuity but adds some near-term uncertainty around the handoff. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: The company also highlighted its long-term leadership change in multiple interviews and reports, which may reassure investors that the transition is orderly rather than sudden. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: CME said it plans to sue the CFTC over approval of crypto perpetual futures, arguing the regulator is improperly treating these products as swaps rather than futures. The legal fight raises regulatory risk and could create uncertainty around CME’s crypto derivatives strategy. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Several headlines repeated the lawsuit plan, suggesting the issue is the main driver of today’s weakness as investors focus on possible friction with regulators and the implications for future product approvals. Article Title

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CME. Weiss Ratings cut shares of CME Group from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on CME Group from $362.00 to $353.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. UBS Group reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on CME Group from $342.00 to $322.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on CME Group from $356.00 to $349.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $305.18.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME Group stock opened at $246.38 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $244.56 and a 1-year high of $329.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.28 billion, a PE ratio of 21.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.21. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $280.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $287.50.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.80 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In related news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares in the company, valued at $8,438,860.26. The trade was a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total value of $10,447,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 55,630 shares in the company, valued at $16,606,111.30. This represents a 38.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.