Impax Asset Management Group plc Sells 39,914 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Impax Asset Management Group plc decreased its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 38.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,721 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 39,914 shares during the quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc’s holdings in CME Group were worth $17,287,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey grew its position in shares of CME Group by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 54,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,056,000 after purchasing an additional 2,124 shares in the last quarter. Bailard Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 5.8% in the second quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 4,220 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,163,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 3.6% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,178,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,524,271,000 after buying an additional 319,899 shares during the period. Maple Capital Management Inc. grew its position in CME Group by 0.7% during the second quarter. Maple Capital Management Inc. now owns 64,337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,733,000 after buying an additional 449 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in CME Group by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 161,902 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,623,000 after acquiring an additional 4,964 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.00, for a total transaction of $102,704.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 7,851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,056,962. This represents a 4.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.47, for a total value of $3,229,407.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 17,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,734,436.80. The trade was a 40.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 14,043 shares of company stock valued at $3,791,486. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on CME shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on CME Group from $262.00 to $263.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price target on CME Group from $297.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Citigroup upgraded shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $275.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of CME Group from $313.00 to $304.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 10th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $286.06.

CME Group Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $279.58 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market cap of $100.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.09, a PEG ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.38. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $222.56 and a 12 month high of $290.79. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $266.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $272.65.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 58.84% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.68 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.45%.

CME Group Profile

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.