CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Sold by Whittier Trust Co.

Whittier Trust Co. trimmed its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,897 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 249 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $3,279,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 2.3% during the second quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 67,554 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,619,000 after acquiring an additional 1,511 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 0.5% during the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 685,973 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $188,391,000 after acquiring an additional 3,460 shares during the period. Journey Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 19.5% during the second quarter. Journey Advisory Group LLC now owns 12,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,558,000 after acquiring an additional 2,104 shares during the period. Bogart Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.8% during the second quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 58,669 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,170,000 after acquiring an additional 1,042 shares during the period. Finally, Drive Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 5.8% during the second quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $425,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME opened at $268.61 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $96.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.00, a PEG ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 0.41. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $266.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $271.48. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $213.94 and a 1 year high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 58.48% and a return on equity of 14.60%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.56 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 9th were paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 13th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of CME Group from $276.00 to $266.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $281.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $283.71.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.00, for a total transaction of $102,704.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 7,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,056,962. This represents a 4.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director William R. Shepard acquired 262 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $265.19 per share, for a total transaction of $69,479.78. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 258,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,540,742.21. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 13,043 shares of company stock worth $3,527,956. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About CME Group

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.