Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC decreased its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 8.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,036 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 98 shares during the quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $276,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in CME Group in the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Rogco LP lifted its stake in CME Group by 11.7% in the 1st quarter. Rogco LP now owns 2,787 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $739,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 364,899 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $96,804,000 after purchasing an additional 7,600 shares in the last quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in CME Group in the 1st quarter worth $2,331,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 122.2% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $275.19 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $99.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.69, a PEG ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.44. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $193.17 and a 12 month high of $290.79. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $276.69 and its 200 day moving average is $258.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.19. The company 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 57.71% and a return on equity of 14.03%. The firm’s 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. Research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 50.30%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Derek Sammann sold 4,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 8,336 shares in the company, valued at $2,339,164.96. This represents a 35.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Dennis Suskind sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.28, for a total transaction of $271,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,915 shares in the company, valued at $790,781.20. This represents a 25.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,400 shares of company stock worth $3,680,610 in the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on CME shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $299.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $269.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, 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 report on Friday, April 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $260.93.

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.