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

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 989,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,527 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned approximately 0.27% of CME Group worth $213,086,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in CME Group by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $782,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Lantz Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 4,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $982,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $631,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greystone Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC now owns 3,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $691,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CME. Bank of America upped their price objective on CME Group from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $226.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Argus raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $215.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.44, for a total value of $586,320.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,163 shares in the company, valued at $1,399,936.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other CME Group news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.44, for a total value of $586,320.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,399,936.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 7,140 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 29,256 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,153,999.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,290 shares of company stock worth $11,393,700 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

CME opened at $196.06 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $70.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.30, a PEG ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $180.11 and a 12-month high of $223.80. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $204.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $208.41.

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

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Investors 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 of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.33%.

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.