AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Decreases Stake in CME Group Inc. $CME

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lowered its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 19.8% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 338,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 83,477 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings in CME Group were worth $93,224,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 24.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,859,000 after acquiring an additional 1,381 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 3,662.5% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 602 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $160,000 after acquiring an additional 586 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 5.7% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,804,000 after acquiring an additional 573 shares during the last quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in CME Group in the first quarter worth approximately $213,000. Finally, Diversified Trust Co purchased a new position in CME Group in the first quarter worth approximately $278,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Up 0.2%

CME stock opened at $269.54 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $266.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $271.90. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $213.94 and a 12 month high of $290.79. The company has a market cap of $97.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.65 and a beta of 0.41. 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, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.05. CME Group had a net margin of 58.84% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.68 EPS. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 9th were given a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 48.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $312.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 13th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective 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. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $284.53.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In related news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.47, for a total value of $3,229,407.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 17,440 shares in the company, valued at $4,734,436.80. This represents a 40.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 379 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.83, for a total transaction of $98,475.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,508 shares in the company, valued at $2,470,463.64. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,043 shares of company stock worth $3,527,956 in the last 90 days. Company 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.