CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Sold by Capital Fund Management S.A.

Capital Fund Management S.A. lowered its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 71.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 63,008 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 155,746 shares during the period. Capital Fund Management S.A.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $16,715,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 122.2% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 612.5% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CME. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Erste Group Bank lowered CME Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, July 13th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $305.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $261.93.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $274.61 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $275.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $267.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.91 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $206.44 and a 12 month high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 58.48%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.56 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 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 Thursday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 48.40%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.35, for a total transaction of $132,675.00. Following the sale, the director owned 4,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,300,215. The trade was a 9.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director William R. Shepard purchased 256 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $270.53 per share, for a total transaction of $69,255.68. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 258,196 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,849,763.88. This represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About CME Group

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.