CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Sold by Summit Global Investments

Summit Global Investments reduced its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 34.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,795 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,513 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments’ holdings in CME Group were worth $2,007,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 64.9% in the 4th quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 2,075.0% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $245.11 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.82 billion, a PE ratio of 20.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.25. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $257.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $281.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $218.31 and a 12 month high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.CME Group’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.80 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the subject of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on CME Group from $323.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Barclays decreased their price objective on CME Group from $316.00 to $270.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of CME Group from $342.00 to $322.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $292.12.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, Director William R. Shepard purchased 325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $230.57 per share, for a total transaction of $74,935.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 260,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,050,111.94. This trade represents a 0.12% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,438,860.26. The trade was a 17.20% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.