CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Sold by Invesco Ltd.

Invesco Ltd. cut its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 19.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,301,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 549,823 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $634,467,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 18.1% during the first quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 79,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,109,000 after purchasing an additional 12,212 shares during the period. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. grew its position in CME Group by 40.5% in the 1st quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 6,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,608,000 after buying an additional 1,746 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 77.1% during the 1st quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of CME Group by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,643,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,190,661,000 after buying an additional 400,737 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WealthShield Partners LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC now owns 16,009 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,247,000 after buying an additional 711 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CME. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $296.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays lowered their price target on CME Group from $298.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on CME Group from $312.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup raised CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $275.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $287.71.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Harold Eugene Jr. Ford sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.53, for a total value of $263,530.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $287,511.23. This represents a 47.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director William R. Shepard acquired 262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $265.19 per share, with a total value of $69,479.78. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 258,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,540,742.21. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 2,147 shares of company stock valued at $562,079 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $274.34 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $98.93 billion, a PE ratio of 26.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.35 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $271.46 and a 200-day moving average of $272.84. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $224.62 and a one year high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.05. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 58.84%.The company had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.68 earnings per share. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 48.45%.

CME Group Company 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.