Farmers Trust Co. Has $7.97 Million Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Farmers Trust Co. trimmed its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 30,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,092 shares during the quarter. CME Group comprises about 1.5% of Farmers Trust Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Farmers Trust Co.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $7,970,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its position in CME Group by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Banque Transatlantique SA bought a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.56, for a total transaction of $817,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,471,824. This represents a 35.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel G. Kaye sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.42, for a total transaction of $141,210.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,035,916.56. This trade represents a 12.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 24,400 shares of company stock worth $6,533,180. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Bank of America boosted 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. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on CME Group from $269.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $256.80.

CME Group Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of CME stock opened at $285.87 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $287.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $269.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $250.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $103.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.56, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.50 EPS. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 50.30%.

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.