Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Raises Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.3% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 989,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,527 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $213,086,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CME. Mutual Advisors LLC acquired a new position in CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $206,000. Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in CME Group by 15.9% in the third quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 82,384 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,495,000 after acquiring an additional 11,307 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,579,057 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $716,604,000 after purchasing an additional 125,263 shares during the period. Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.8% in the third quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 9,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,948,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the period. Finally, JT Stratford LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 15.2% in the third quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 11,678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,542 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 7,140 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.35, for a total value of $1,501,899.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,256 shares in the company, valued at $6,153,999.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other CME Group news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 7,140 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.35, for a total transaction of $1,501,899.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,256 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,153,999.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.44, for a total value of $586,320.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,399,936.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,290 shares of company stock valued at $11,393,700 in the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $196.06 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $204.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $208.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company has a market cap of $70.60 billion, a PE ratio of 22.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 0.52. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $180.11 and a 12 month high of $223.80.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.44 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 56.84% and a return on equity of 12.45%. The firm had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.48 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.42 EPS. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 9.75 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. CME Group’s payout ratio is 52.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CME. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (down previously from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a report on Friday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $187.00 price objective (up previously from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Argus lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded CME Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $206.00 to $187.00 in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $215.90.

CME Group Company Profile

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.