CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Acquired by Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 13.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 110,611 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 13,500 shares during the quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in CME Group were worth $25,687,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 23.9% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 12,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,709,000 after acquiring an additional 2,370 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $335,000. IHT Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 33.3% in the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,645,000 after purchasing an additional 1,855 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its position in CME Group by 354.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $523,000 after purchasing an additional 1,848 shares during the period. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 29.7% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 20,648 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,556,000 after buying an additional 4,732 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $241.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $2,600,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,686,980. This trade represents a 31.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total value of $997,872.48. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,774,211.62. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME opened at $254.46 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $273.42. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $252.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $237.18. The company has a market capitalization of $91.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.31, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 51.71%.

About CME Group

CME Group Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates contract markets for the trading of futures and options on futures contracts worldwide. It offers futures and options products based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, agricultural commodities, energy, and metals, as well as fixed income and foreign currency trading services.