CME Group Inc. $CME Stock Position Lowered by Cantillon Capital Management LLC

Cantillon Capital Management LLC lessened its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,578,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 45,856 shares during the quarter. CME Group makes up about 2.5% of Cantillon Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Cantillon Capital Management LLC owned 0.44% of CME Group worth $435,025,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 24.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,859,000 after buying an additional 1,381 shares in the last quarter. Advisor Resource Council purchased a new stake in CME Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $266,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its position in CME Group by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 36,291 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,628,000 after buying an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in CME Group by 13.2% in the 1st quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 23,114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,132,000 after buying an additional 2,694 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in CME Group by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 213,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,510,000 after buying an additional 5,284 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $268.61 on Wednesday. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $213.94 and a 1 year high of $290.79. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $266.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $271.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.80 billion, a PE ratio of 26.00, a PEG ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 0.41.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.05. CME Group had a net margin of 58.48% and a return on equity of 14.60%. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.56 EPS. CME Group’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th were given a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on CME. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on shares of CME Group from $309.00 to $307.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of CME Group from $298.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of CME Group from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $283.71.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.47, for a total value of $3,229,407.12. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 17,440 shares in the company, valued at $4,734,436.80. This trade represents a 40.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 392 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.00, for a total transaction of $102,704.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 7,851 shares in the company, valued at $2,056,962. This represents a 4.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 13,043 shares of company stock valued at $3,527,956. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group 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.