Metis Global Partners LLC Has $3.30 Million Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Metis Global Partners LLC lowered its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 11.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,018 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $3,302,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Naples Global Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 2,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $436,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,823,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,074,000. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in CME Group by 4.3% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,118,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $223,867,000 after acquiring an additional 46,021 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,986,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CME has been the topic of several research reports. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $187.00 price objective (up from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on CME Group from $198.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (down previously from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $217.80.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.91, for a total value of $8,436,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 67,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,226,934.05. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Up 0.2 %

CME traded up $0.35 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $208.00. 1,653,197 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,782,695. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $214.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $211.49. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $175.73 and a 1-year high of $223.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.62, a P/E/G ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.44 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 56.84% and a return on equity of 12.45%. The firm had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.42 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 9.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 52.33%.

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.