Conning Inc. Sells 15,910 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Conning Inc. cut its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 11.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 124,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 15,910 shares during the period. Conning Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $34,189,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CME. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Webster Bank N. A. raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 206.9% during the second quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 89 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 122.2% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 84.3% during the second quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 612.5% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, Director William R. Shepard purchased 262 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $265.19 per share, for a total transaction of $69,479.78. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 258,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,540,742.21. This represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.47, for a total transaction of $3,229,407.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 17,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,734,436.80. This trade represents a 40.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,043 shares of company stock worth $3,527,956 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on CME shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of CME Group from $313.00 to $304.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Citigroup raised shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $275.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of CME Group from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $281.00.

CME Group Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $271.45 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $213.94 and a 52 week high of $290.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $97.83 billion, a PE ratio of 26.28, a PEG ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $268.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $271.17.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 58.48% and a return on equity of 14.60%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.56 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th were issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 48.40%.

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.