CME Group Inc. $CME Stock: Ethic Inc. Reduces Holdings

Ethic Inc. lowered its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 7.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 65,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,134 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $17,146,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $284,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Buckhead Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 3.9% during the third quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC now owns 3,588 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $940,000 after buying an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 5.5% during the third quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 46,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,072,000 after buying an additional 2,409 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 12.6% during the third quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 421,421 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $110,404,000 after buying an additional 47,305 shares during the period. Finally, Leelyn Smith LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 4.1% during the third quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC now owns 12,172 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,189,000 after buying an additional 478 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.70, for a total value of $1,493,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 20,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,985,051.90. This represents a 19.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director William Shepard purchased 293 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $268.76 per share, with a total value of $78,746.68. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 263,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $70,761,551.64. This represents a 0.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have sold 32,979 shares of company stock valued at $9,552,762 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $305.89 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $109.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The business has a 50-day moving average of $283.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $280.79. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $218.31 and a 1 year high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $3.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.99 by $0.03. CME Group had a return on equity of 16.23% and a net margin of 63.33%. The business had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.68 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 12.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 11th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 11th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 42.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CME. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $226.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $292.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $286.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of CME Group from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $367.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of CME Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 31st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.44.

CME Group Profile

CME Group operates a global marketplace for derivatives and other financial products. Through its exchanges—CME, CBOT, NYMEX and COMEX—it offers futures and options contracts tied to interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural products and metals.

The company also provides clearing and settlement services, market data and related products. Its electronic trading platform, CME Globex, supports access to its markets by participants around the world, alongside its open-outcry and privately negotiated trading services.

CME Group was formed in 2007 through the merger of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade, institutions with roots in the 19th century.