Magellan Asset Management Ltd Has $96.25 Million Stock Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Magellan Asset Management Ltd lessened its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 50.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 325,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 326,288 shares during the quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd owned about 0.09% of CME Group worth $96,246,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Asset Dedication LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 64.9% during the 4th quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 0.3% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group boosted its stake in CME Group by 4.3% in the third quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $243,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 1,118 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $305,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Endowment Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in CME Group by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. now owns 895 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $244,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Down 3.1%

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $237.41 on Wednesday. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $218.31 and a 52-week high of $329.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $86.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.25. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $256.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $281.68.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.80 earnings per share. Analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.18 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard purchased 325 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $230.57 per share, for a total transaction of $74,935.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 260,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,050,111.94. The trade was a 0.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total value of $1,752,536.39. Following the completion of the sale, 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on CME. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of CME Group from $323.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on CME Group from $356.00 to $349.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Erste Group Bank cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Weiss Ratings downgraded CME Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $292.12.

CME Group Company 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.