CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Sold by Seilern Investment Management Ltd

Seilern Investment Management Ltd decreased its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 87.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 23,826 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 163,414 shares during the quarter. CME Group comprises about 0.5% of Seilern Investment Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Seilern Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in CME Group were worth $6,506,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CME. Caldwell Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 116.3% in the third quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 93 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA purchased a new stake in CME Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Financial Consulate Inc. purchased a new stake in CME Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Corundum Trust Company INC acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.65, for a total transaction of $1,300,530.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 43,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,317,117.55. This represents a 8.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.90, for a total value of $91,770.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 24,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,647,194.10. The trade was a 1.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 8,539 shares of company stock valued at $2,713,821 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $306.56 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $300.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $280.88. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $248.53 and a 1-year high of $329.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $109.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.47, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.24.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 62.45% and a return on equity of 14.65%. The business’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.52 EPS. Analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. CME Group’s payout ratio is 46.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CME. TD Cowen boosted their target price on CME Group from $305.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on CME Group from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on CME Group from $266.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price objective on CME Group from $333.00 to $347.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $304.06.

About CME Group

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.