Generali Investments Management Co LLC Sells 3,304 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Generali Investments Management Co LLC decreased its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 45.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,938 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,304 shares during the quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,084,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Jessup Wealth Management Inc grew its position in shares of CME Group by 0.5% during the second quarter. Jessup Wealth Management Inc now owns 7,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,197,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 5,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,453,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its position in CME Group by 2.3% in the first quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 1,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $441,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 2.0% during the second quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $538,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in CME Group by 0.8% during the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 5,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Trading Up 0.5%

NASDAQ CME opened at $285.04 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $102.79 billion, a PE ratio of 27.62, a PEG ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.38. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $222.56 and a 12 month high of $290.79. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $267.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $272.85. 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 (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 58.84% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.68 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 48.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CME shares. TD Cowen lifted their target price on CME Group from $288.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Argus cut their price objective on shares of CME Group from $308.00 to $295.00 in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $297.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of CME Group from $313.00 to $304.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $287.65.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 379 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.83, for a total transaction of $98,475.57. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 9,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,470,463.64. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.00, for a total value of $102,704.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 7,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,056,962. This represents a 4.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 14,043 shares of company stock worth $3,791,486 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.