Stonebrook Private Inc. Lowers Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Stonebrook Private Inc. trimmed its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 12,194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 265 shares during the quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $2,832,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 108.7% during the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 12,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,949,000 after buying an additional 6,453 shares during the period. Unified Investment Management purchased a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $503,000. Spire Wealth Management grew its stake in CME Group by 37.4% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $307,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc grew its stake in CME Group by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 326,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,730,000 after buying an additional 52,862 shares during the period. Finally, Aspire Growth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $548,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Trading Up 0.8%

CME opened at $276.29 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.56 billion, a PE ratio of 28.57, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $265.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $247.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02. 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 results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.50 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total value of $997,872.48. Following the sale, the insider now owns 27,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,774,211.62. This trade represents a 12.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 21,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,686,980. This trade represents a 31.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 23,134 shares of company stock valued at $6,087,434. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on CME shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $269.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $269.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $256.80.

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.