Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Sells 2,712 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. trimmed its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 35,231 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 2,712 shares during the period. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.'s holdings in CME Group were worth $8,186,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its stake in CME Group by 570.6% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 120.3% during the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the topic of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on CME Group from $269.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $256.80.

CME Group Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of CME Group stock traded up $2.73 on Wednesday, hitting $275.09. The company had a trading volume of 553,915 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,151,789. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $259.60 and a 200-day moving average of $242.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $275.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.45, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.50 EPS. Research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $1.25 dividend. This is a boost from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. CME Group's payout ratio is presently 50.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Larry G. Gerdes sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.10, for a total value of $528,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 38,651 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,207,729.10. This represents a 4.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total transaction of $997,872.48. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 27,046 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,774,211.62. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,076 shares of company stock valued at $7,399,696 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently 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.