Catalyst Financial Partners LLC Decreases Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Catalyst Financial Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 136 shares during the quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $355,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Townsend & Associates Inc grew its holdings in CME Group by 63.0% in the 4th quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc now owns 69,948 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,288,000 after acquiring an additional 27,041 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 681,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $143,501,000 after purchasing an additional 17,744 shares during the period. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 28.6% in the fourth quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 39,191 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,254,000 after purchasing an additional 8,717 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its holdings in CME Group by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 67,565 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,229,000 after purchasing an additional 4,874 shares during the period. Finally, Hyman Charles D purchased a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $243,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “sell” rating and issued a $187.00 price objective (up from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (down from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $217.80.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.91, for a total transaction of $8,436,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 67,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,226,934.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ CME traded up $3.50 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $211.84. 1,708,217 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,786,597. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $175.73 and a 52-week high of $223.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $213.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $211.42. The firm has a market cap of $76.26 billion, a PE ratio of 24.10, a PEG ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 0.48.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.44 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 56.84% and a return on equity of 12.45%. The business’s revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.42 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 9.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. CME Group’s payout ratio is 52.33%.

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.