Interval Partners LP Cuts Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

Interval Partners LP reduced its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 57.1% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 22,820 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 30,430 shares during the period. Interval Partners LP’s holdings in CME Group were worth $6,054,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 4.9% during the first quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 90,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,930,000 after purchasing an additional 4,228 shares in the last quarter. Cinctive Capital Management LP purchased a new position in CME Group during the first quarter worth about $240,000. Concentric Capital Strategies LP purchased a new position in CME Group during the first quarter worth about $1,010,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in CME Group by 185.5% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,244,608 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $330,182,000 after purchasing an additional 808,740 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 10.3% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,783,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $735,539,000 after purchasing an additional 260,065 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Down 0.7%

CME stock opened at $267.43 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $275.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $269.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.38 billion, a PE ratio of 25.89, a P/E/G ratio of 4.88 and a beta of 0.43. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.38 and a 12 month high of $290.79. 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 (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 58.48% and a return on equity of 14.60%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.56 earnings per share. Equities 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be given a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $305.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of CME Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $261.93.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.47, for a total transaction of $3,229,407.12. Following the transaction, the insider owned 17,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,734,436.80. This represents a 40.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Charles P. Carey sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.35, for a total transaction of $132,675.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,900 shares in the company, valued at $1,300,215. The trade was a 9.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.