Meeder Asset Management Inc. Invests $1.69 Million in CME Group Inc. $CME

Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 7,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,693,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in CME Group by 11.5% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of CME Group by 103.1% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,018,000 after buying an additional 121,707 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 1,325.2% during the second 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 purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the second quarter worth approximately $992,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in CME Group by 2.6% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 287,876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $79,344,000 after acquiring an additional 7,397 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard bought 325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $230.57 per share, with a total value of $74,935.25. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 260,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,050,111.94. The trade was a 0.12% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $271.54 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $250.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $279.97. 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 1 year low of $218.31 and a 1 year high of $329.16. The firm has a market cap of $97.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.03, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.23.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 63.30%.The business’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.96 EPS. Analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 12.27 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on CME shares. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $226.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $316.00 to $323.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on CME Group from $267.00 to $245.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on CME Group from $249.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $291.81.

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.