Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Sells 1,211 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 36.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,211 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $484,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 1,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $411,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $137,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $549,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 437 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $101,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total transaction of $997,872.48. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares in the company, valued at $6,774,211.62. This represents a 12.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,686,980. This trade represents a 31.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,134 shares of company stock valued at $6,087,434 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $276.29 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.56 billion, a PE ratio of 28.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $265.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $247.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $286.48.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.50 EPS. Analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America increased their target price on CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on CME Group from $269.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $256.80.

CME Group 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.