CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Stock Holdings Reduced by Continuum Advisory LLC

Continuum Advisory LLC lowered its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,966 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 39 shares during the quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $787,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 108.7% in 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 last quarter. Unified Investment Management acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth about $503,000. Aspire Growth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth about $548,000. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 3.4% in the first quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 43,135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,443,000 after buying an additional 1,408 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 111.2% in the first quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 3,006 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $797,000 after buying an additional 1,583 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on CME shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on CME Group from $282.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Three 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $258.20.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Dennis Suskind sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.28, for a total transaction of $271,280.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,915 shares in the company, valued at $790,781.20. This represents a 25.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Larry G. Gerdes sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.10, for a total value of $528,200.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 38,651 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,207,729.10. This trade represents a 4.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 13,400 shares of company stock worth $3,680,610. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Down 0.5%

CME Group stock opened at $272.66 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $274.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $255.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market cap of $98.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.45. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $192.11 and a 12 month high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its 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. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.03% and a net margin of 57.71%. CME Group’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.50 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 50.30%.

About CME Group

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.