Cullinan Associates Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

Cullinan Associates Inc. lowered its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 20.8% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 30,687 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,066 shares during the quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $9,063,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 345.2% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 237,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $64,965,000 after purchasing an additional 184,459 shares in the last quarter. FLC Capital Advisors acquired a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth $2,122,000. First Bank & Trust purchased a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,325,000. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. boosted its position in CME Group by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 140,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,289,000 after buying an additional 3,931 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 138.8% during the fourth quarter. MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. now owns 7,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,953,000 after acquiring an additional 4,152 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on CME Group from $356.00 to $349.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. UBS Group reduced their price target on CME Group from $310.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on CME Group from $266.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on CME Group from $323.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $293.59.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total value of $1,752,536.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 27,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,438,860.26. The trade was a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director William R. Shepard bought 325 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $230.57 per share, with a total value of $74,935.25. Following the purchase, the director owned 260,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,050,111.94. The trade was a 0.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting CME Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: CME announced new products aimed at expanding trading activity, including Treasury LINK for U.S. Treasury spread trading and a new agriculture index that offers a unified benchmark for the global farm economy. CME Group to launch Treasury LINK for enhanced US Treasury spread trading CME Group’s New Agriculture Index Delivers Unified Price Benchmark for the Global Farm Economy
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley kept an overweight rating but lowered its price target on CME to $324 from $353, while Barclays cut its target to $270 and moved to equal weight, signaling reduced near-term expectations but not a fundamentally bearish view. Morgan Stanley cuts CME price target Barclays cuts CME price target
• Negative Sentiment: The CFTC blocked CME’s plan to fast-track 24/7 crude oil futures trading, a setback that could limit a potentially important new revenue stream and raises regulatory risk around product innovation. CFTC to block CME’s plan for 24/7 crude oil futures trading CFTC Blocks for Now CME’s Plan to Offer 24/7 Oil Futures
• Negative Sentiment: Reports also pointed to weaker trading volumes and rising competition weighing on CME Group, which could pressure transaction-based revenue growth if activity remains soft. Competition And Weaker Trading Volumes Are Weighing On CME Group (CME) Stock

CME Group Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of CME stock traded up $0.56 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $240.27. 1,979,543 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,891,472. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.25. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $218.31 and a one year high of $329.16. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $262.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $283.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.80 earnings per share. CME Group’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 12.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s payout ratio is 44.37%.

CME Group Company Profile

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.