CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Sold by Capital World Investors

Capital World Investors reduced its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,271,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 345,412 shares during the period. Capital World Investors owned about 2.29% of CME Group worth $2,234,827,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Inc. CA lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 13.8% in the third quarter. Capital International Inc. CA now owns 110,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,775,000 after purchasing an additional 13,379 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of CME Group by 6.8% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 742,847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $200,710,000 after purchasing an additional 47,231 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,437,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $658,474,000 after purchasing an additional 124,820 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise boosted its stake in CME Group by 13.3% during the third quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 6,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,815,000 after buying an additional 788 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sandhill Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in CME Group in the third quarter valued at about $5,970,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total value of $6,738,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 65,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,737,468.20. The trade was a 27.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $7,647,194.10. This represents a 1.19% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 30,248 shares of company stock valued at $8,355,450 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Up 0.6%

CME opened at $319.09 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $292.99 and a 200-day moving average of $278.00. The company has a market capitalization of $115.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.24. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $248.53 and a fifty-two week high of $329.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by $0.02. CME Group had a net margin of 62.45% and a return on equity of 14.65%. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.52 earnings per share. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. CME Group’s payout ratio is 44.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on CME Group from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of CME Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $264.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $201.00 to $209.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $295.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Two research 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, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $302.71.

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.