CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Sold by Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lessened its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 62.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 401 shares during the quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $64,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of CME. GQG Partners LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 7,676.3% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 2,205,041 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $584,975,000 after acquiring an additional 2,176,685 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 370.5% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,653,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $704,068,000 after purchasing an additional 2,089,935 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 32,941.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,858,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $493,144,000 after acquiring an additional 1,853,261 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 1st quarter valued at $218,842,000. Finally, Egerton Capital UK LLP grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 79.4% during the 1st quarter. Egerton Capital UK LLP now owns 1,730,194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $459,003,000 after buying an additional 765,773 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $270.12 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.92 and a beta of 0.44. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $207.75 and a 12-month high of $290.79. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $275.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $268.88.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.05. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 58.48%.The company had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.56 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be given a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 9th. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 48.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on CME shares. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $305.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 13th. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered shares of CME Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $261.93.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.35, for a total value of $132,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,300,215. This represents a 9.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 firm’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 approximately $4,734,436.80. This trade represents a 40.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.