GAMMA Investing LLC Sells 3,276 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

GAMMA Investing LLC cut its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 27.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,454 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,276 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,867,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in CME Group by 11.5% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,660,000 after buying an additional 1,037 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in CME Group by 103.1% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,018,000 after acquiring an additional 121,707 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in CME Group by 1,325.2% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 23,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,497,000 after acquiring an additional 21,918 shares in the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $992,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 287,876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $79,344,000 after acquiring an additional 7,397 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on CME Group from $329.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Bank of America lifted their target price on CME Group from $226.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of CME Group from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of CME Group from $342.00 to $322.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $291.81.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, Director William R. Shepard acquired 325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price 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 in the company, valued at $60,050,111.94. The trade was a 0.12% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the business’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. This represents a 17.20% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME opened at $264.32 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $218.31 and a 12 month high of $329.16. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $249.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $280.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market cap of $95.04 billion, a PE ratio of 22.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.23.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.08. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 63.30%.The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.96 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 12.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 44.11%.

About CME Group

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.