Capital World Investors Sells 993,118 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Capital World Investors cut its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 12.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,278,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 993,118 shares during the period. Capital World Investors’ holdings in CME Group were worth $1,987,488,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. West Family Investments Inc. lifted its position in CME Group by 1.2% in the third quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 3,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $827,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 64.9% in the fourth quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 11,523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,147,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lifted its position in CME Group by 4.3% in the third quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $243,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1248 Management LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 26.8% in the third quarter. 1248 Management LLC now owns 180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on CME shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered their price target on CME Group from $340.00 to $316.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 26th. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on CME Group from $362.00 to $353.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on CME Group from $356.00 to $349.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $305.29.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME stock opened at $257.40 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $288.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $288.60. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $244.56 and a twelve month high of $329.16. The firm has a market cap of $93.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.96, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.21.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.25. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The business had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.80 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.37%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total transaction of $1,752,536.39. Following the transaction, the insider owned 27,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,438,860.26. This trade represents a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total value of $10,447,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 55,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,606,111.30. This represents a 38.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 44,044 shares of company stock worth $13,297,507. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Company Profile

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world’s largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company’s core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.