CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Sold by EDENTREE ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd

EDENTREE ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd cut its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 23.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,748 shares during the period. CME Group accounts for 2.2% of EDENTREE ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. EDENTREE ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd’s holdings in CME Group were worth $8,018,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the second quarter worth about $1,571,447,000. GQG Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 7,676.3% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 2,205,041 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $584,975,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176,685 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in CME Group by 370.5% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,653,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $704,068,000 after purchasing an additional 2,089,935 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in CME Group by 185.5% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,244,608 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $330,182,000 after purchasing an additional 808,740 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in CME Group by 1.5% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,176,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,695,313,000 after purchasing an additional 532,549 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays reduced their target price on CME Group from $298.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $312.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $313.00 to $304.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 10th. Citigroup raised shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $275.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CME Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $289.18.

CME Group Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $266.33 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $96.04 billion, a PE ratio of 25.81, a P/E/G ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $224.62 and a 12-month high of $290.79. The company has a 50-day moving average of $271.54 and a 200 day moving average of $272.48.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 58.84%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.68 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director William R. Shepard purchased 262 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $265.19 per share, with a total value of $69,479.78. Following the transaction, the director owned 258,459 shares in the company, valued at $68,540,742.21. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Harold Eugene Jr. Ford sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.53, for a total transaction of $263,530.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $287,511.23. This represents a 47.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 2,147 shares of company stock worth $562,079 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.