Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 10.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,235 shares during the quarter. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $4,954,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new stake in CME Group during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its stake in CME Group by 122.2% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in CME Group during the first quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in CME Group during the first quarter valued at $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William R. Shepard purchased 256 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $270.53 per share, for a total transaction of $69,255.68. Following the acquisition, the director owned 258,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,849,763.88. This represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 represents a 5.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,750 shares of company stock worth $1,576,294. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $305.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays set a $298.00 target price on shares of CME Group and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of CME Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $261.93.

CME Group Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $282.21 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $203.77 and a 1 year high of $290.79. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $275.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $266.12. The stock has a market cap of $101.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.32, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.44.

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

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.40%.

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.