Teza Capital Management LLC Sells 2,479 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Teza Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 70.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,479 shares during the period. Teza Capital Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $242,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $301,000. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 47.4% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 5,797 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,346,000 after acquiring an additional 1,863 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,523,000 after acquiring an additional 850 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,564 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $946,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CME shares. Barclays raised their target price on CME Group from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on CME Group from $269.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $256.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total value of $997,872.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,774,211.62. The trade was a 12.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,063,885.88. This represents a 15.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,494 shares of company stock worth $7,281,618 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CME Group Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of CME stock opened at $277.87 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.74, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $266.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $247.92. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $286.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.19. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.50 earnings per share. CME Group’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 50.30%.

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.