Guinness Asset Management LTD Has $267.32 Million Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

Guinness Asset Management LTD lessened its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.6% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,008,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 27,003 shares during the period. CME Group accounts for about 5.2% of Guinness Asset Management LTD’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Guinness Asset Management LTD’s holdings in CME Group were worth $267,319,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,643,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,190,661,000 after purchasing an additional 400,737 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its holdings in CME Group by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 4,113,991 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,091,401,000 after buying an additional 363,130 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in CME Group by 29.9% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,818,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $747,744,000 after buying an additional 648,591 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in CME Group by 10.3% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,783,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $735,539,000 after buying an additional 260,065 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 11.9% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,727,809 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $723,660,000 after buying an additional 290,147 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, Director William R. Shepard purchased 256 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $270.53 per share, with a total value of $69,255.68. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 258,196 shares in the company, valued at $69,849,763.88. This represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.47, for a total value of $3,229,407.12. Following the transaction, the insider owned 17,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,734,436.80. This represents a 40.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CME. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 13th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of CME Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $260.60.

CME Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $262.38 on Friday. 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 50-day moving average of $273.85 and a 200-day moving average of $270.21. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $212.38 and a 52 week high of $290.79. The company has a market capitalization of $94.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.40, a PEG ratio of 4.70 and a beta of 0.43.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion for 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

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

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.