CME Group Inc. $CME is CORDA Investment Management LLC.’s Largest Position

CORDA Investment Management LLC. decreased its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 211,456 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,368 shares during the quarter. CME Group comprises approximately 4.3% of CORDA Investment Management LLC.’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. CORDA Investment Management LLC.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $62,454,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Asset Dedication LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 64.9% in the fourth quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 11,523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,147,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. 1248 Management LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 26.8% during the 3rd quarter. 1248 Management LLC now owns 180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sovran Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 1,118 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about CME Group

Here are the key news stories impacting CME Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: CME announced new products aimed at expanding trading activity, including Treasury LINK for U.S. Treasury spread trading and a new agriculture index that offers a unified benchmark for the global farm economy. CME Group to launch Treasury LINK for enhanced US Treasury spread trading CME Group’s New Agriculture Index Delivers Unified Price Benchmark for the Global Farm Economy
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley kept an overweight rating but lowered its price target on CME to $324 from $353, while Barclays cut its target to $270 and moved to equal weight, signaling reduced near-term expectations but not a fundamentally bearish view. Morgan Stanley cuts CME price target Barclays cuts CME price target
• Negative Sentiment: The CFTC blocked CME’s plan to fast-track 24/7 crude oil futures trading, a setback that could limit a potentially important new revenue stream and raises regulatory risk around product innovation. CFTC to block CME’s plan for 24/7 crude oil futures trading CFTC Blocks for Now CME’s Plan to Offer 24/7 Oil Futures
• Negative Sentiment: Reports also pointed to weaker trading volumes and rising competition weighing on CME Group, which could pressure transaction-based revenue growth if activity remains soft. Competition And Weaker Trading Volumes Are Weighing On CME Group (CME) Stock

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total transaction of $10,447,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,606,111.30. The trade was a 38.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total transaction of $1,752,536.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 27,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,438,860.26. This trade represents a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $240.27 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $87.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.50, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $262.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $283.26. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $218.31 and a twelve month high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.CME Group’s revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.80 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 12.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 44.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CME shares. Wall Street Zen lowered CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of CME Group from $353.00 to $324.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of CME Group from $342.00 to $322.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of CME Group from $356.00 to $349.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $293.59.

CME Group Profile

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world’s largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company’s core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.