Capital International Sarl Reduces Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Capital International Sarl cut its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 58.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 24,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 35,169 shares during the quarter. Capital International Sarl’s holdings in CME Group were worth $6,792,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 345.2% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 237,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $64,965,000 after buying an additional 184,459 shares in the last quarter. Dover Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 95.5% during the 3rd quarter. Dover Advisors LLC now owns 5,597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,512,000 after buying an additional 2,734 shares in the last quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 32.5% during the 3rd quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 50,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,773,000 after buying an additional 12,503 shares in the last quarter. FLC Capital Advisors bought a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,122,000. Finally, Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ lifted its holdings in CME Group by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ now owns 114,411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,913,000 after buying an additional 1,777 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME opened at $257.40 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $288.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $288.67. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $244.56 and a fifty-two week high of $329.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.27 billion, a PE ratio of 21.96, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.80 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CME. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $362.00 to $353.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of CME Group in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods began coverage on shares of CME Group in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $305.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $313.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $305.29.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total value of $1,097,120.67. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 7,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,397,597.04. This represents a 31.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total transaction of $1,752,536.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,438,860.26. The trade was a 17.20% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 44,044 shares of company stock valued at $13,297,507. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.