Sarasin & Partners LLP Has $311.08 Million Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Sarasin & Partners LLP reduced its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 32.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,172,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 563,121 shares during the quarter. CME Group makes up about 3.3% of Sarasin & Partners LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Sarasin & Partners LLP owned 0.33% of CME Group worth $311,076,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,379 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $366,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 50.0% during 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 position in shares of CME Group by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 1,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $411,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. grew 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 buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in CME Group by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 437 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $101,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the subject of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $258.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Derek Sammann sold 4,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.61, for a total value of $1,304,836.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,336 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,339,164.96. This trade represents a 35.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,686,980. This represents a 31.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 22,900 shares of company stock worth $6,147,935 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $268.35 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $96.70 billion, a PE ratio of 27.75, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $271.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $253.55. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. The business’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.50 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. CME Group’s dividend 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.