8,875 CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Sold by Sanders Capital LLC

Sanders Capital LLC lessened its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,058,865 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,875 shares during the quarter. CME Group accounts for approximately 1.3% of Sanders Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Sanders Capital LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,325,321,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Alta Advisers Ltd grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 87.5% during the 3rd quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd now owns 2,617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $686,000 after buying an additional 1,221 shares during the period. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. increased its stake in CME Group by 3.5% during the third quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. now owns 14,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,764,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $681,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 139.5% in the 3rd quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,017 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,410,000 after purchasing an additional 7,582 shares during the period. Finally, Claro Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 18.7% in the 3rd quarter. Claro Advisors Inc. now owns 1,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $407,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In related news, Director Martin Gepsman sold 400 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.50, for a total transaction of $121,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 25,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,636,310. The trade was a 1.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director William Shepard acquired 293 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $268.76 per share, for a total transaction of $78,746.68. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 263,289 shares in the company, valued at $70,761,551.64. This represents a 0.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 32,979 shares of company stock worth $9,552,762. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CME. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $226.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of CME Group from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $367.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $286.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. CLSA set a $367.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $330.00 target price (up from $295.00) on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.44.

CME Group Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of CME stock traded down $1.35 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $305.89. The company had a trading volume of 1,452,885 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,141,975. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $218.31 and a twelve month high of $329.16. The company has a market capitalization of $109.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.15. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $283.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $280.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $3.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.99 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 63.33% and a return on equity of 16.23%. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.68 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 11th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.66%.

CME Group Profile

CME Group operates a global marketplace for derivatives and other financial products. Through its exchanges—CME, CBOT, NYMEX and COMEX—it offers futures and options contracts tied to interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural products and metals.

The company also provides clearing and settlement services, market data and related products. Its electronic trading platform, CME Globex, supports access to its markets by participants around the world, alongside its open-outcry and privately negotiated trading services.

CME Group was formed in 2007 through the merger of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade, institutions with roots in the 19th century.