Quantbot Technologies LP Takes $4.13 Million Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 21,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,134,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 24.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,809,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,403,557,000 after buying an additional 3,069,806 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in CME Group by 137.6% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,260,644 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $444,443,000 after acquiring an additional 1,309,097 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in CME Group by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,589,867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,072,654,000 after purchasing an additional 1,172,575 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc bought a new stake in CME Group during the first quarter worth about $156,631,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in CME Group by 577.9% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 645,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,872,000 after purchasing an additional 550,133 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total value of $1,629,381.87. Following the sale, the director now owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at $11,932,706.13. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $218.53 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $206.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $207.48. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $223.80. The firm has a market cap of $78.69 billion, a PE ratio of 24.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.85 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.53 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.82% and a net margin of 56.98%. CME Group’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CME. Bank of America cut CME Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $212.00 to $177.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $209.73.

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.