Brevan Howard Capital Management LP Sells 69,136 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Brevan Howard Capital Management LP decreased its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 39.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 105,580 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 69,136 shares during the quarter. CME Group accounts for approximately 0.1% of Brevan Howard Capital Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP’s holdings in CME Group were worth $28,527,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Caldwell Trust Co grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 116.3% during 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 during the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the third quarter worth $27,000. Financial Consulate Inc. bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Corundum Trust Company INC bought a new stake in CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key CME Group News

Here are the key news stories impacting CME Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Rothschild & Co Redburn raised its price target on CME to $347 (maintaining a “neutral” rating), implying roughly double-digit upside from recent levels and offering fresh analyst support for the shares. Rothschild Co Redburn adjusts price target on CME to 347 from 333, maintains neutral rating
• Neutral Sentiment: CME’s CEO Terry Duffy publicly warned that U.S. government intervention in oil futures markets would be highly damaging; exchanges including CME have voiced opposition to potential Treasury action. This raises policy/regulatory risk for energy derivatives but also underscores the exchange’s central role in market integrity — a factor that can support trading volumes in energy products if volatility rises. US intervention in oil futures would be ‘biblical disaster’, CME warns CME Group CEO warns against US intervention in oil futures markets US intervention in oil futures market could be disastrous: CME Group
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest reporting in recent feeds shows zero or nonsensical values and appears to be a data anomaly rather than a real bearish signal; treat those short-interest items with caution. (Market impact minimal until corrected.)
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Ken Vroman (Chief Transformation Officer) sold about 5,160 shares (~$1.59M) and SEC filings show multiple recent insider sales across senior staff. While insider sales can be routine, the cadence and size may raise governance/owner-sentiment questions for some investors. CME Group’s Vroman sells $1.59 million in stock Insider Sale: Chief Transformation Officer of $CME Sells 5,160 Shares

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.65, for a total transaction of $1,300,530.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 43,007 shares in the company, valued at $13,317,117.55. This represents a 8.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $224,400.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $809,700. This represents a 21.70% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 5,248 shares of company stock worth $1,616,700 in the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CME Group Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of CME opened at $311.40 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $295.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $278.99. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $248.53 and a 12 month high of $329.16. The company has a market capitalization of $112.29 billion, a PE ratio of 27.90, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.65% and a net margin of 62.45%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.52 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CME. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on CME Group from $295.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded CME Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $302.00 to $356.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $201.00 to $209.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $303.53.

CME Group Company Profile

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.