Bellwether Advisors LLC Sells 20,231 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Bellwether Advisors LLC reduced its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 95.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 20,231 shares during the quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $231,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its holdings 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 during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 612.5% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in CME Group during the first quarter valued at about $32,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Up 0.9%

CME opened at $279.55 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $193.25 and a twelve month high of $290.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $276.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $262.48. The company has a market cap of $100.74 billion, a PE ratio of 27.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 0.44.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 58.48% and a return on equity of 14.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.56 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 48.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their price target on CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Citigroup lifted their target price on CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Bank of America lifted their target price on CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $269.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut CME Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $261.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.50, for a total transaction of $108,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 6,708 shares in the company, valued at $1,861,470. This trade represents a 5.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Phyllis M. Lockett sold 1,060 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.88, for a total transaction of $294,552.80. Following the sale, the director owned 3,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $863,651.04. This represents a 25.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,400 shares of company stock worth $3,152,410 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.